Snow White and Rose Red: Soundtrack of Our Lives
by Dalikins
Summary: A modern retelling of the fairy tale Snow White and Red Rose. A joint effort story with Carys Valerian. Please read and review! Complete, Finished!
1. Chapter 1

Hello, my name is Dalikins. Just a brief rundown before you start reading: This story is a joint effort between myself and the author Carys Valerian (who has her own account on the site). Cary's writes from the point of view of Gwen and I write from the point of view of Rorie. We take turns writing the chapters so for this story she will write all of the odd numbered chapters and I will write all of the even numbered.

We hope you enjoy the story and please read and review :)

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Chapter One – Just a small town girl

Don't Stop Believing  
- Journey

Gwen

"Joy, another Oryn Jacoby CD – and we all know what that means, screaming fan girls and admiring prostitots." My co-worker Stacy lamented as she fastened her Music-Mart nametag on her black, mesh t-shirt. I couldn't help but see that she had put it on upside down, most likely on purpose. It seemed I wasn't the only one who noticed, as our boss Randy, or King Randy as he preferred to be called in the workplace, rushed over to the front counter where we were stationed.

"Stacy Chen, put that name tag on correctly this instant or I'll have you fired more quickly then you can say !" He commanded, pushing his round glasses up higher on his face.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Randy, but the sincerity of your comment was lost when you picked the longest word ever to be uttered in the English language." Stacy muttered sarcastically back to him with a slight wave of her violet manicured hands – which also happened to be against store dress code policy. It was a slight miracle that the 17 year old hadn't been fired yet, but somehow, despite the amount of time he's turned a putrid shade of plum because of her, she's still on staff.

In this case, like all others before it, Randy chose to pick his battles and left Stacy to her constant state of PMS. Instead, he turned to me.

"Gwen, have you given my offer any further thought?" He asked in a voice dripping with ooze.

"Thanks Randy, but I'd rather not become the 'Queen' of the Music-Mart just yet." I replied with the most kind-hearted smile I could muster. Since he had to deal with Stacy all of the time I figured he could use the break from any incivility on my part. About a month ago Randy had offered me the assistant manager position, but I refused to accept for several reasons. Firstly, by accepting it, I would be underhandedly setting myself up for a career in the retail business at just over minimum wage – a fact that didn't appeal to me whatsoever though I could certainly use the raise. Secondly, being assistant manager would require me spending more time with Randy and at the store when I needed to be at home.

My living situation left much to be desired, and though I knew I was fortunate in many respects, by way of wealth I was not. I lived in a small one-story bungalow with my older sister Rorie and my mother Ruth. My mom was really sick, and as much as she tried to deny it Rorie and I knew the truth of the matter. The worst part is she refused to check in to a hospital with the knowledge that medical bills were far beyond our price range. When Rorie was 8 and I was 5 my father left us for, who my sister, who enjoyed classifying everyone she met, referred to as 'the strip-club bimbo.' He also conveniently chose to take my mother's complete life savings, every penny of it, to spend on cheap booze and cheaper motels along the way to his self-realization. It wasn't like we had a whole lot of money before, but things just got worse after that.

My mom was a secretary at an elementary school, but with education cut-backs she got laid off. Ultimately she started working two jobs at McDonalds by day and a scummy bar at night just to make ends meet. I think it was working so hard that made her get sick, and soon she couldn't work at all since she just didn't have the energy anymore. It was like her life was completely sucked out of her. Her face was grey, her hair even greyer and she looked far older then her age of a mere 52. Now she required nearly constant attention from either Rorie or me. It wasn't as if we were unhappy to do so, since my mom had worked so hard for us it was the least that we could do, but it had meant a great deal of sacrifice.

Normally someone at my ripened age of 22 would be attending university or collage and becoming attuned to the world of adult-hood, whereas my sister and I had been adults for as long as we could remember. Even with grants we couldn't afford to have a higher education since no bank would front us a loan. Rorie had gone for a semester, but the financial strain, alongside the stress of being away and worried about mom and I 24/7 had caused her to return home, where she was now employed at the Stop and Go mini-mart on the main stretch of town. I always felt so sorry for her. My sister was brilliant- a bonefide genius in my not so professional opinion. She was an expert at calculus and physics and all the sciences that I couldn't wrap my head around even if I'd tried. She deserved to go to school so she could become a famous scientist and discover the cure for Swine Flu or some such disease, not to make $9.50 at the Stop and Go working for Frankie 'the tub of lard' DiAngelo – who I might add liked to feel up her rear end. And I thought Randy was bad.

In the end though we were fine, we had each other. So what if we were low on groceries, high on bills and out of luck.

That day at the Music-Mart passed by as slowly as any other, and as usual, just before my shift was to end, Rorie waltzed through the door. Since we lived in a less-then reputable neighbourhood, mom and Rorie were always worried about letting me walk home on my own. For Rorie it was never much of an issue, since if she ever ran into trouble she'd probably be more terrifying then whoever it was trying to rob her. If someone so much as looked at me oddly on the street I'd probably hand them over my usually empty wallet and run away crying like a baby.

Waiving, Rorie came up to the counter where I was serving a customer and grabbed one of the free lollipops out of the bin, opening the wrapper noisily. I ignored her while I handed the teen her bag, complete with the new Oryn Jacoby CD and a giant poster - because everyone who listened to his music must like to look at his perfectly formed abs too. Jumping over the counter, Rorie made herself comfortable on one of the employee chairs, thus automatically setting of King Randy's no socializing in the workplace alarm.

"Rorie! How many times do I have to tell you? You do not work here; your sister does -and still will be for the next 5 minutes. You can wait outside for her or browse through our selection, but do not go behind the counter under any circumstances. Authorized personnel only!" He demanded rushing over towards us like a rat to cheese.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud Rand, you just want more Gwen time." My sister joked while she pointed her lollipop at me. Randy's nearly bald head turned bright, tomato red while Stacy and I held our breath so we didn't laugh too hard. Leave it to my sister to brighten up even Stacy 'the teenage goth's' existence. It was by no means an easy feat.

While I waited for the last 3 minutes of my shift to pass I heard the squeals of what seemed like a thousand 13 year olds, though I think there were only 4. Stacy rolled her eyes in mild annoyance.

"What's going on?" I wondered aloud. Rorie got up from her chair and climbed back over the counter to get a better glimpse of the aerial television the entire store had now crowded around. She waived me over to her, and so I went to see what was going on.

"It seems like that pretty boy pop idol has made another idiotic move." Rorie commented as I cast my gaze upwards to the screen. The entertainment news reporter was on the screen alongside images of Oryn Jacoby in his flamboyant sports car, a bottle of beer in one hand and three half naked women in the other. Which hand was driving the car I was unsure.

"What a jerk." I muttered shaking my head in disgust. "He has so much talent and he cuts himself short like that. It's ridiculous."

"Not to mention all the money he has being blown on physical pleasures. I'd sure like to have even a tiny portion of what he makes in a day. It would feed us for months, plus cover mom's medicine." Rorie scoffed. We sat and watched the report for a moment longer, learning that the pop star had even bailed on his court hearing this morning. Sighing, Rorie tore her gaze away from the TV and at the clock on the wall. "Whatever. I hope it gets busted for it big time. Come on Gwen you're off now." She said grabbing my hand and leading me out of doors. I barely even had time to throw on my winter coat first. I'm sure Randy would have a fit since I didn't correctly clock out.

Rorie and I had a schedule worked around caring for mom. While I was at work during the day, Rorie would be at home. The only time she was left alone was when Rorie came to pick me up, and that was only for a short while. Rorie worked the graveyard shift at the Stop and Go, and so during the evening and overnight it was my responsibility to keep the house tidy and look after our mom. Such a schedule meant that I wasn't really able to see my sister as much as I'd have liked. We had always been close, even as small children and we never fought like siblings generally do because we didn't really have any material possessions to argue over. My mother had raised us with the knowledge that everything we had must be shared since for the most part we didn't have enough to go around.

We walked towards home rather quickly. The Music-Mart wasn't overly far, and for the first half of it we travelled through a really nice residential area where my sister and I would each pick our favourite houses that we swore we'd live in some day. Suddenly, I heard a loud yelping coming from one of the most beautiful homes on the street, one that I had often admired. A man, who must have been the owner, was throwing around an enormous black dog and kicking it rather forcefully. It was the biggest dog I had ever seen, so much so that it was almost the size of a bear. I must admit that dogs terrify me. There really wasn't a historical reason behind it. I had never been attacked by a dog in my childhood or anything, but if you've ever looked at a dog's teeth – I mean really really looked at them without the bias of it being your cute and loveable family pet, it is easy to understand why. Those teeth could rip you apart without a second thought. Perhaps my fear is foolish, Rorie certainly thought it was, but I couldn't really help it.

Nevertheless, I couldn't just stand and watch the poor beast get abused, and I knew for certain Rorie wouldn't either, so she'd have my back.

"Hey Mister! Treating an animal like that is illegal you know!" I yelled towards him in as forceful of a tone as I could muster – Which admittedly was not much. That's why I needed only to initiate the conversation since I knew my sister could handle the rest.

"Mind your own business! It isn't even my dog – just some stray that thought he could wander into my home and make himself comfortable." The man shouted back.

"Then call animal control, at least they handle things civilly. Or maybe you'd prefer it if I called the police on you?" Rorie retorted angrily. The man gave her an inappropriate hand gesture, which she returned in full force, but at least he left the dog alone. Feeling like our work was done we continued along the route home, and had just about made it there successfully when out of the corner of my eye I could see the dog following us home. I poked Rorie since I had no desire to confront the animal myself.

Rolling her eyes, as if to tease me a little bit, she spun around to face the monster directly.

"Okay puppy shoo! Go away! You can't come home with us! We have no room for you." Rorie said, urging the dog to leave with her hands. The dog was either incredibly stubborn or incredibly stupid, since it didn't listen to her. Instead, it took a running leap towards me – like it could sense fear, like it knew that I was the weak link. Screaming like a baby I made a dash for home, Rorie laughing like a maniac behind me, while the dog remained tight on my heels.

"Make it go away!" I cried when I reached the door to my little home. When I stopped, the beast did too, and it looked as if it was evaluating its surroundings. With a huff, the dogs ears flattened and he walked in the other direction. Frustrated with the creature I stomped my foot.

"So what, you're just going to walk away now after giving me all that grief? Nice doggie, real nice!"

Rorie came up behind me, doubled over in laughter, she had to lean on me for support.

"I guess the puppy wasn't a fan of our oh so humble abode huh?" She asked between snickers, and then more seriously added "I hope the poor thing finds somewhere to spend the night. The news said it was going to drop below 30 degrees with wind chill tonight." She said, the very thought causing her to wrap her arms around herself in order to keep warm.

"I'd say it served the thing right, but I'm not that harsh." I replied, and opened the door to finally be home, safe and sound.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two – I'm taking what they giving 'cause I'm working for a livin'

Working for a Living  
- Huey Lewis and The News

Rorie

Of course it would storm! I had gotten Gwen at least but it couldn't at least have waited until after I had gotten to work? No! I was 2 blocks from home already and if I turned back I would be late to work so there was no choice but to continue on my trek. Frankie would have a fit if I was even a second late—he loved to watch the clock. My condition upon arrival didn't matter as long as I got there in his opinion, though he probably would like the fact I would be dripping wet and frozen. My winter jacket was very thin and the little mittens I did have were worn through so it wasn't as if it took me long to become soaked to the bone. Oh well, that's what the hot chocolate Gwen had packed in my thermos was for, to warm me back up.

Frankie no doubt would have a spare work shirt available for me to change in to since our work uniform only consisted of a white unisex tee with the stores name on it. I had been in the habit of keeping an extra pair of pants in the back room because of my uncanny ability to work on the worst weather days of the year.

However despite the fact I had not turned back for another sweater and hat I still somehow managed to be that one moment late. And boy did he make sure I knew!

"Rorie, what the hell! Your shift started 5 minutes ago. You're late... again." Frankie, my boss, sneered. He, as I had assumed, did not care in the least that I was sopping wet. However Frankie did appear to care about the floor, "And stop dragging melting snow all over the place!" he called after me as I slammed the small door that sectioned off the employee area in the back of the store.

I could hear him stomping after me, undoubtedly to yell some more, but I slammed and locked the door before the tub of lard could make it there. He banged loudly on the door as I grabbed one of the extra store shirts from the pile in the corner before yanking on my other pair of pants—strangely I had been wondering where this pair had disappeared to when I had been getting ready. At least something was working in my favour.

Unlocking the door as I pulled my shirt down Frankie stumbled into the backroom, "Frankie how many times do I have to tell you not to push on the door when it's locked. One of these times you're really going to get hurt like that." Laughing I headed up to the counter where an older woman was picking up a news paper and a coffee. "That will be 5.63 ma'am." I smiled brightly as I threw my hair into a new ponytail.

Frankie was back at my side fuming by the time I had handed her her change. "Have a nice evening, it's pretty terrible out there, drive safe." I waved until she was gone.

"I swear to God Rorie I am this close!" he screamed, waving his hands in the air with his pointer finger and thumb barely separated.

"Oh come on, have you looked outside? Be glad I got here at all. The weather is insane, cars are sliding off the road if they can drive at all. "

The tub of lard sneered, wrapping his arm around my waist tightly before I could push him off, "Yes, but you walk."

My defence mechanism of sitting on the stool behind the register would not be effective now as it was some three feet apart. Stupid jerk. His hand was already in my back pocket before I could even try to sit down this time. He was getting smart. "'bout time you caught on to that trick Frankie." I rolled my eyes as he gave my ass a quick squeeze before removing his hand from my pocket, giving me a swift tap on the bum and heading to the back room himself.

Sighing heavily I couldn't help but be grateful that he would be gone soon. I always worked the night shift, and he always made some excuse to either be at the Stop and Go when I arrived or show of up some time during my shift. Resting my head on my arms, which were crossed on the counter I waited for him to leave.

When I heard the back entrance slam I knew Frankie had departed and that I was free for the evening. The weather was so bad that no one in their right mind would be out and about. "It's going to be a long night." I murmured to myself as I snatched the clicker for the small TV we kept under the counter in order to keep the night staff awake—well to keep me awake.

I had been working full time night shifts since I had dropped out of school, and though the money wasn't good, it kept my family going. It wasn't that I hated my job, but I hated my job and particularly my boss. Frankie knew I wouldn't quit so he didn't see a point in treating me with any respect. I didn't respect him much either and got in shit for it often enough but he kept me around. At least for now.

Turning on the TV I immediately began to flip through the channels. "What is new in the world of celebrity gossip tonight?" I joked. I really didn't care but at this time of night there was little else on so I had resigned myself to such a fate long ago. We didn't have a TV at home so it wasn't as if I watched regular programming, I would just miss episodes and get lost so I stuck to news and tabloids. Tonight however they seemed to be the same.

"- has been missing for the past four days and continues to not show up at his scheduled appointments." the broadcaster read from the teleprompter, the picture beside her revealing who her subject was.

"Jacoby is missing? What?" I wondered aloud as I reached over the counter and grabbed a copy of Star from the rack—they would have arrived earlier that day. The front page depicted the same information as the news.

Oryn Jacoby, pop star extraordinaire, and bane of my sister's existence at the Music Mart, was missing. No wonder he hadn't shown up to his court hearing, he seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Apparently his parents, best friend, nor agent had heard from him in days. The judge that was supposed to hear his case didn't seem to sympathetic though because he had ruled against him despite his absence and any attempt his lawyers had tried to make towards postponing the court date. "Good for him, the brat deserves it." I giggled a bit before continuing on my hunt for something to watch (a mission that failed). "At least that will brighten up Gwen and the teenage goth's day tomorrow." I laughed as I turned off the TV and reconciled to just listen to the radio instead.

It was definitely going to be a long night.

The hours dragged and the snow did not let up until my shift was almost over. Snow removal had been working through the night to clear the roads and some sidewalks but they still wouldn't be finished for a few hours but hopefully would be finished by the time I had to drop Gwen off at work.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three – You call me a dog, Well that's fair enough

Call Me a Dog  
- Temple of the Dog

Gwen

Rorie came back in a particularly bad mood from work the next morning, presumably because Frankie was being his usual lecherous self. When I woke up she had just lit the old fashioned wood stove that warmed our small home and had set about brewing a pot of coffee. Frankly I couldn't stand the stuff, and I thought it a useless expense, but I knew my sister and mom devoured it as being a delicious treat so I would never deny them the pleasure of their one cup a day.

Mom seemed to be well enough to get out of her bedroom in the morning, as she crept out into the room shortly after I had in her favourite black, woollen shawl I had seen her wear with her nightgown my whole life. Now it was tattered and frail, just like her, but nevertheless I still thought it just as lovely. As a child I could remember putting it on with a pair of her high heels and jewellery, feeling just like the lady that she was.

"Good morning mom!" Rorie chimed, seemingly just as pleased as I was to see her out and about so early.

"Good morning girls, how's that coffee coming?" She asked in a voice worn from a lifetime of strain, though it still seemed like music to my ears.

"It's almost ready, give it another minute." Rorie replied as she opened the cupboard to grab some sugar packets she had swiped from the coffee area at the Stop and Go the other day. I helped my mom sit down at our sadly dilapidated kitchen table and wiped off crumbs that were still there from our dinner. I was so tired the night before I hadn't had time to clean up after dinner, since after I had put mom to bed I fell asleep on the couch myself.

"What would you like for breakfast mom?" I asked, already knowing what she wanted. She was never well enough to eat anything really solid, and so she lived on a diet based on foods like yogurt, soup and applesauce. I took out a container of yogurt and put a little in a bowl for her before she had even asked for it. She accepted it with a smile, and grazed my hand lightly with her weak one.

Rorie and I grabbed a bit of the same thing as mom and sat together to eat. I had to get ready to go to work soon, and so I began to clean up my dishes in the sink. It was at that point I heard scratching on the door. At first I thought that it was Rorie moving about the room, but when I saw her stop to sit down I realized that the scratching noises continued. I walked quietly towards Rorie and whispered in her ear.

"There is something at the door. Listen."

Rorie squinted as she listened for the same sounds I had just heard. Once she had been convinced that there was indeed something trying to get inside, she grabbed a rolling pin out of the kitchen drawer and edged towards the door. My mother, obviously confused gave me a look that asked what was going on. I put my finger on my mouth to have her stay quiet while Rorie, ever the brave one, let the door fly open.

In one, black flash she was knocked onto the ground. I screamed and dove behind the couch in terror. Worried about my mother, I peaked out from my hiding place and was amazed to realize that she was laughing. Wondering what on earth could be so funny with my sister toppled on the ground and me cowering in fear, I saw what seemed to be the large, black dog from yesterday after work shaking off next to the wood stove.

"It's the monster bear dog!" I exclaimed, while I watched the animal curl up next to the stove, shivering.

"The poor thing is probably freezing cold, let him rest by the fire for a bit." My mother said, standing up and going to the linen closet to grab a blanket to cover the monster with.

Rorie also got to her feet, wiping off the snowy paw prints from her front and glaring at the dog.

"For goodness sake! What are you doing back here stupid dog? Our house wasn't good enough for you yesterday." She grumbled coming over to me and shaking her head at my feeble position.

"Come on Gwen, his bark is worse then his bite." She urged, offering me her hand. Taking it gratefully I laughed at my ridiculous behaviour, though it wasn't entirely unwarranted since he had charged at me only the day before.

"Shame on you!" I argued, pointing at the dog accusingly. His uncannily bright green eyes stared at me for a while, until I suppose he grew fed up with my appearance and snapped his head in the opposite direction.

"Wow, so the Beast has an attitude too." Rorie scoffed.

"I bet he's hungry." My mother offered, as she walked to the cupboard and pulled out a can of flaked chicken, opening it and putting it in a bowl on the floor. The canine looked at it sceptically.

"Hey dumb dog! That is good chicken you're wasting if you don't eat it! And don't pretend you're not hungry, you're practically salivating all over it." Rorie said, crossing her arms in annoyance.

My mother was always overly kind to stray animals. We barely had enough to feed ourselves, and yet she was always more then happy to lend them a helping hand, or precious food.

And yet the bear dog was being stuck up enough to refuse it. I had to admit he was a stubborn thing, and far too quick to scorn food for a normal animal. This fact alone led me to believe that he was not a normal dog by any means. Come to think of it, I wasn't even sure how I was so positive that the dog was male. Perhaps it was his mannerisms, or maybe I was just completely off track. But nevertheless I was going to declare the brute a male.

"He clearly does not want to eat mom, can we just make him leave?" I asked, still slightly cowering behind Rorie. The dog looked at me, almost as if it was annoyed at my antics. With a great huff he shoved the food away from him with his nose.

"Nonsense Gwen, we can't cast the poor thing outside, not in this cold. He'll freeze to death if he doesn't starve first. No, he shall stay here with us until we find where it is that he belongs." Mom insisted patting the dog on his head.

"But...We can't take care of a dog..." Rorie offered.

"We certainly can, and we will. It is the right thing to do. He doesn't have a collar, so he's probably a stray." Mother finished, and Rorie and I both knew that there was no arguing with her when her mind was made up.

I was so caught up in the issue of the dog I didn't even realize what time it was.

"Rorie! Our appointment at the welfare office! We're going to be late!" I shouted, jumping to action with my sister right behind me.

We rushed out the door without giving my mom and the dog a second thought. Despite the dog's rotten attitude I seemed to feel less worried about leaving her there alone, although I had no guarantee that he would help to keep her safe.

The welfare office was relatively close to the low income housing where my family lived, and after waiting in a tedious line for what felt like forever, we arrived at the front desk where we were told to go into a back office and wait for the social service worker to meet us.

I straightened up the skirt I was wearing. I wanted to look as professional as possible, despite my inability to afford any higher grade of clothing, and so I had taken an old dress I found at the thrift store and altered it to suit my taste. I always enjoyed fixing my used clothing because it made it feel like it was brand new and just for me.

After waiting in the office for a few moments, my sister and I were greeted by a rather stern looking man with large glasses and a head of greying hair.

"Miss and Miss Rosings, it is a pleasure. My name is Samuel Davis and I am the social worker assigned to your particular case. Upon reviewing the application you submitted to us last week, we have determined that you are not eligible to receive any supplements from the government." He said, as if he actually cared. Rorie was completely outraged.

"What do you mean?" She cried, aghast.

"We have no proof that your mother is indeed ill, no hospital records and no proof of divorce from her husband. As for you ladies, we cannot give you anymore since you reach just above the poverty line with your combined incomes since you are still living with your parents."

"Have you ever tried living with less then 20 thousand dollars a year! That barely covers food and rent let alone other necessities! And then you wonder why we can't take our mother to the hospital since the bills are so outrageous! Thanks so much for all your help" She yelled, and then without another word, she stormed out of the room.

"I'm sorry." I muttered to Mr. Davis, and then dashed out of the room after her. She had already made it quite far away from the government building.

"Hey Rorie are you okay?" I asked, grabbing her by her shoulders in a light hug.

"I just get so frustrated by this entire system!" She yelled as we began to walk towards the Music Mart for the beginning of my shift. We didn't really talk that much on the way, I knew Rorie needed to seethe. As for myself, sure I was angry, but I knew that there was nothing that I could do to fix it, and there was no point in wishing I could. It was sad, but I had all but given up on any chance of living a life that was a little easier.

When we got through the door I saw Stacy and gave her a little wave. For some reason, her generally depressed face was smiling widely and she flicked over to me.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked.

"Oryn Jacoby is missing! He has been for a while! Does this mean a scandal? Or better yet? No more albums and screaming fan girls?" She asked rhetorically.

"I didn't know he was missing. It's probably just some sort of ridiculous publicity stunt." I stated.

"I forgot to tell you about that!" Rorie interjected. "Apparently the pretty boy skipped out on his court date and everything. If you ask me it's a good thing he's disappeared off the face of the planet since he's going to be in deep shit when he's found."

"I'll turn on the TV to the entertainment channel. It's plastered all over the place." Stacy said with a squeal of impish delight as she ran over to where the remote was kept. With a slight chuckle it appeared Rorie was in a better mood. I suppose it went to show that even the rich led craptastic lives. In fact, I wasn't sure who's was worse at the moment. Mine and Rories, or Oryn Jacoby, fallen from grace.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four – This could be the start of something

Start of Something  
- Britannia High

Rorie

The stupid bear dog stared at me all day, making it impossible for me to get any sleep. My plan had been to nap most of the afternoon because, as usual, I worked tonight, however the dog seemed to have other plans. When it wasn't sitting with mom, thankfully keeping her company and a bit warmer, it tormented me. Ever since we had taken it in almost a month ago now I could not help but feel like the stupid thing was watching me. I had barely gotten any sleep since it arrived for that very reason.

Don't get me wrong the mutt was useful to have around. He kept mom company when I was sleeping or gone to pick up Gwen, at least when it stayed home. It seemed to follow us half the time, when I would bring her to work, it would stop to gawk at the TV screens in the window for a little while, then bound home after me since I had no intentions of waiting for it. It was almost as if it was watching for something.

So after I had picked up baby sis and dropped her off at home, I again tried to sleep. It usually would work for a little while, giving me just enough energy to make it to work where I could drink as much coffee as I wanted—for free, as long as Fankie didn't find out. Tonight however I didn't wake up on my own, and by the time Gwen decided to wake me I had very little time to get to work. Thank God the tub of lard was not at the shop waiting for me, because I was once again a tad bit late.

"You really need to start showin' up on time Ror, otherwise Frank is gonna fire you." Chad laughed, jumping over the counter the second I walked through the door. I tossed off my jacket, really glad that I was not sopping wet for once. I was just happy that it was hopefully going to stop snowing altogether soon, it had to be spring soon, and winter had lasted far too long already.

Chad left as fast as he could, giving me a heads up that Frankie had called and would be by later. Such was my luck.

I raced over to the coffee machine, and chugged one back, scalding my mouth and throat but at least I would be awake enough to deal with customers and the tub of lard whenever he should decide to show up. Luckily for me I suppose the shop was pretty dead all evening.

I spent most of the time watching entertainment news, Oryn Jacoby had finally lost his presence all over the screen, yet still had not been heard from. Since there was never any new news for them to report on him he barely was even mentioned. His CD sales had sky rocketed however so I almost thought he had disappeared on purpose to push his fame to new heights. The concern his parents and friends, one in particular, showed however was enough to convince me that I was probably wrong. Jacoby`s publicist had urged anyone with information to come forward earlier in the month, but even he had stopped so the story faded out of the lime light.

Good riddance in my opinion. Sure I felt bad for his family, and for him too I suppose, if something really bad did happen, but I was just getting sick of hearing about it by now. Oh well, the newest celeb break up had replaced him, and that was replaced by scandals long ago.

Tonight however a bit larger spot was featured about Oryn Jacoby because his best friend had apparently accused his publicist of being involved. The guy seemed a bit crazy to be honest and I guess as some sort of famous tabloid writer he had been brushed off. However even that clip barely spanned 3 minutes.

After a few hours of mindless TV I switched it off. My shift was almost half over and I could count how many people had come in on my hands, it was pathetic to say the least. Frankie had yet to stop by so I figured he would arrive sometime soon, so I made myself busy straightening and restocking the store.

I had been at it for about half an hour, and because of my miraculous system, and lack of customers, I was almost done when the door chime went off. Figuring it was Frankie I called that I would be just a second, however the voice that responded definitely did not belong to that tub of guts.

"Oh sorry, I thought you were my boss." I chimed, heading back up to the counter, trying to fix my appearance. The guy that had just come in was certainly nothing like Frankie. He was probably a few years older than me, and about four inches taller. His eyes were a pale honey brown and his hair was almost the colour of mahogany. His features were well defined yet held a softness. It wasn't until I came around the side of the chip stand that I noticed—he was missing the lower half of his right leg and was using a crutch. For some reason I couldn't help but think it made him look a bit more handsome. He was dressed really well, and from what I could tell he was driving a pretty nice car too.

"It's no problem." he smiled, coming over to the counter, where I had taken up my position.

"How can I help you? You're out awful late, would you like some coffee?" I offered, getting up and collecting a cup for him as he nodded. "Milk or sugar?"

"Just some sugar please... I was wondering if you could tell me if there is a good hotel nearby, I'm not sure how long I am going to be in town."

Going back over to the counter and digging out the stack of complimentary maps of the city. They weren't very detailed so it wouldn't interfere with the sale of real maps, if it did Frankie wouldn't keep them around. "Hmm, well I know there are a few on the water front." I offered, grabbing a pen and drawing the route he should take to get there. "Are you in town for a conference? I think I heard someone mention something about one the other day."

He shook his head, "Nah, I'm just travelling. Supposed to be meeting up with a friend..."

"That sounds like fun. There isn't a lot to do in the city in the way of the party scene, as lots of young people complain, but if you're interested in sightseeing and nature trails and stuff it's not too hard to find something to do." I said with a shrug. "How long do you think you will be in town?" I asked, making a bit of conversation as I tossed my hair. I didn't mean to but I couldn't help but flirt a bit.

"Don't know, depends on how things go. I have a feeling my friend will show up soon so it depends on how that goes." he shrugged before offering me his hand, "I'm Zachary."

"Rorie." I smiled, shaking his hand.

"Should have guessed." He joked, pointing at my name tag causing us both to laugh. It went silent for a minute before he broke back in, "It's pretty."

"Thanks, it's for my dad." I rolled my eyes, I hated my dad.

"That's nice."

"Not really. He left when my sister and I were little... sorry." I brushed it off, going behind the counter. Well I ruined that.

However Zachary shook his head, "No, I'm the one that should be sorry."

"Nah." I mimicked him. Clearing my throat I brought the conversation back to the hotel, "But ya, I've heard this hotel is really great. It's been renovated recently but is under the same management as before so it should be nice inside."

"Thank you." he nodded his head a bit in appreciation. "You know I don't think my friend is going to be in town for a few days, and I don't really know anyone here... would you maybe want to go for coffee?"

"I would, but I don't think I can. If you want to stop by here for coffee some evening I'm sure something like that could be arranged. I'm here pretty much every night starting at 9 until the wee hours of the morning." I shrugged, "That way you can check out the city a bit and will be able to give me a review of that hotel I'm sending you to." I didn't want to get my hopes up or anything so I figured it was best to put him on my playing field. Besides, I couldn't afford to go out for coffee anyways.

Zachary tapped the counter twice, "Alright then. Are you working two nights from now?" I nodded, "Ok, I'll drop by around 11."

"Ok you better." I just couldn't stop smiling, he was way too cute.

"How much for the coffee?"

"It's on the house." It was my turn to make him smile.

When he glanced over at the tabloid rack and picked up a copy of Star I became a bit confused. He flipped to the contents section, scanned it briefly, nodded and put it back. "11."

"See ya." I waved as he turned a bit awkwardly and headed back out of the store. He waved back once he was comfortable in his car, his crutch sitting in the passenger seat. Once Zachary pulled out of the parking lot and had driven a bit down the street I started to giggle. What was I a teenager, I was acting like some sort of school girl.

Resting my head on the counter, I tapped the plastic over the scratch tickets. I sighed after a few minutes, which was greeted by someone clearing their throat. "Shit." I cursed, "Hi Frankie."

"Making dates at work are we?" he mused.

"Oh come on now Frankie, it isn't as if he is going to come back. That guy was loaded, if he comes back and buys anything you should be happy."

I guess that pacified the tub of lard a bit because he didn't continue on the subject any more then to tell me that the coffee would be coming out of my pay. Figures.

"Get the rest of these shelves stocked!" he ordered, waiting by the door just long enough for me to walk past so he could smack my ass. He was gone seconds later, and I went back to sit at the counter. I guess tonight had been rather eventful after all.

I wasted time cleaning up and restocking the store for the rest of the night. Not a lot of people showed up after Frankie left, to my pleasure so the place was perfect for whoever came in the next morning, that way Mr. Boss Man couldn't be more disgruntled then he already was.

When the girl on morning shift arrived I left happily. I was tired enough that even if the dog decided to stare at me again I probably would sleep right through it. I didn't plan on telling Gwen about what happened during work because if it didn't work out like she would undoubtedly hope or fantasise for me both of us would be disappointed, which was something neither of us needed. I had learnt a long time ago to keep my sister out of the tiny amount of a love life I did have, but I guess I just couldn't contain the smiles because she knew something was up the moment I walked in the door.

Strangely however I couldn't tell if she or the bear dog were more intrigued by my recounting of events.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi guys! I want to thank everyone for reading. I would really appreciate reviews because it lets Carys and I know what you think about our story and how we are doing. We love to write but hearing back from people is always nice so review if you have the time. Thanks and we both hope you enjoy the story!

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Chapter Five– I'm a spy in the house of love

The Spy  
- The Doors

Gwen

"Give that back Bear!" I shouted as the giant animal took off with the package of ground beef I was just about to cook. I had set it on the kitchen table, and somehow the dog hand managed to snatch it away from me. Unlike my sister, who still chose to call the dog a variety of well-placed nicknames, I preferred to call him Bear. Since he had been living with us for over a month, I suppose that I had grown used to his presence, although I still didn't like him that much. I understand that as a dog, he has no boundaries, but when we could hardly feed ourselves, feeding him was a much more difficult task, and usually he ate our scraps when we were done.

Unfortunately, Bear didn't much like that arrangement, and so instead – almost in an act of defiance, he chose to take our food before we even had a chance to cook it. His enormous teeth had already dug into the packaging of beef - that was expensive enough even after a discount, and now I'd have to go through the process of cutting around the parts where he'd ruined.

With a grunt that I assumed meant 'so there,' Bear dropped the meat and sat down, his head held high in the air, turned, as if on purpose, away from my direction.

"For goodness sakes! You should be happy that we took you in at all you silly thing, especially when all you've been is trouble. If mom didn't like you so much you'd be history!" I scolded as I pulled out a frying pan from the cupboard. For once, I had an upcoming weekend off, and although I didn't want to miss any potential shifts, mentally I could use the break from the monotony.

I had only just returned from work, and though Rorie had picked me up as usual, I couldn't help but notice that something was fishy about her. It was almost as if she was caught in a daze, and I knew from past experiences that she always got like that around a boy she liked. I didn't want to intrude in her life though, since I was certain that I was a burden enough already, but I really wanted to know.

Regardless though I kept my mouth shut. Rorie would tell me eventually I was sure of it, she probably just hated to get my hopes up. She always called me a romantic, but I didn't agree. I just wanted her to be happy, since God knows she deserved it since she had to put up with Frankie's advances all of the time. I was lost in my thoughts, and didn't even notice when the meat started to burn. The dog however must have smelled it, and so he barked, alerting me to the problem.

"Darn it!" I shouted, taking the beef off of the stove immediately and waiving a tea towel around so the smoke didn't set of the alarm. Sighing, I knew we'd have to eat the charcoal-like food anyway, since we couldn't afford to waste it. Since Rorie was with my mom and didn't see my little mishap, hopefully they wouldn't notice if I cooked something else with it.

"Stupid Gwen!" I chastised myself quietly. "Your head is always in the clouds." The dog barked behind me, almost like he was agreeing. Not that I blamed him, since it looked like he was going to get burnt food too. When dinner was ready I called everyone into eat, even putting a small dish out for Bear. Despite the fact that he saw me burn it, he didn't complain too much and ate it with little more then a huff. If mom or Rorie noticed anything wrong with it they didn't say a word, probably because they already knew that I wasn't the greatest of cooks.

After everyone had eaten, my mom curled up on the couch, calling the dog to come and sit by her. Surprisingly he always listened to her without question. Perhaps he acknowledged that it was thanks to her that he had a warm place to sleep and a roof over his head. Curling up in a ball beside her he helped keep her warm while she continued to cough. I didn't want to say it, but lately she seemed to be doing worse then before, even with the added comfort of a warm dog.

In an attempt to change my topic of thought, I finally caved.

"Rorie, how was work last night? I never really got a chance to talk to you about it."

She glanced at me in an attempt to be nonchalant.

"Same old. Frankie stopped by as was his usual ass-grabbing self."

"Really? Nothing else of interest to report?" I pressed the matter further hoping she would be inclined to tell someone about her new love interest.

"No Gwen!" She snapped. I knew I was on to something and I wasn't going to let her get away with it, and worst of all for Rorie, I had piqued my mom's curiosity as well.

"What was his name dear?" She asked sweetly. I loved it when she did that. She could be so sweet at one moment, and so conniving the next.

"There is no 'his'!" She replied, curling up into a ball defensively. Laughing I grabbed a sofa pillow and threw it at her.

"What is it? William? John? George? Maybe Rumplestiltskin?" I teased as Rorie leaped up from her seat and chased me around with the same pillow I had thrown at her. We raced around the room, having a glorified pillow fight as my mother clapped and laughed. I admit, it was slightly childish, but everyone is entitled to have a bit of fun right?

The dog barked, and began following us around as well, until Rorie, me and Bear were tangled in a ball on the floor, no longer able to tell whether we were grasping at hair, fur or pillows in our attempt to find out about Rorie's new boyfriend.

It was Bear who finally won her over. After I had been knocked in the head with a particularly hard blow from Rorie's pillow Bear tackled her, pinning her to the floor and growling.

"Hey you stupid mutt, we aren't being serious! Lay off would ya?" She cried swatting him away like an overgrown fly. With an almost sigh, Bear jumped away from her.

"Well you have to tell us now Ror." Mom teased as she coughed a little bit more.

"Fine. His name is Zachary. I met him at the Stop and Go, and he asked me to go out for coffee." She offered. Squealing with delight I showered her with questions. Was he handsome? Did Frankie find out? How did he ask her out? All of these Rorie answered and more, until I had learned every tiny detail about this man called Zachary. Bear too was listening intently, and for once sat quietly.

"So tomorrow night he's going to go back to the Stop and Go? It's not really romantic, but it _is _a start."

"Don't get your hopes up Gwen, that's why I never say anything. He's probably not going to show anyway. What would a guy in a car like that want with someone who works at a mini-mart for a pervert named Frankie?"

"Well maybe he likes your personality! And it probably helps that you're hot too! He seems too nice to take advantage of you in _that_ way." I added with a giggle. Rorie raised her eyebrow at me, and then turned bright red.

"Honestly Gwen. We've talked about this. There is not one guy left on this planet who just likes 'personality,' not with role models like Oryn Jacoby sexing up the place with his crazy antics. Plus, what guy wants to date a girl without a penny to her name?" She answered. I knew such talk might make my mom feel bad, and so I replied.

"Still, even if it doesn't work out, it's awfully nice to dream. It's his loss if he doesn't give you a chance because of that since he'll never see how amazing you are! But I wouldn't count him out just yet." I said, deciding in my head that I was going to go to the Stop and Go and do a little espionage work. I don't consider myself to be a snoopy person, but when it came to my sister I just couldn't help myself. I knew if I didn't experience things first hand that I would never hear any potential events to their full extent.

That night, after my mother went to sleep and Rorie went to work, I sat in my room, figuring out my plan. Bear had jumped up on our bed right next to me, and so at least while I talked to myself I didn't feel like as big of a fool.

"Alright, so if this Zachary guy is coming at 11 that isn't too late. I can handle walking by myself there, and mom will be in bed so she should be alright. I know she'll support my wanting to check up on big sister anyway. Maybe I should take you huh Bear?" I said, while I stroked his head a bit. The dog ruffed back in agreement.

"I guess then I won't have to worry too much about the creeps out at night, but either way I'd risk it. Seeing Rorie flustered for once would so be worth it."

The next day was relatively uneventful, but passed by very slowly since I was so excited to meet this Zachary. I didn't mention a thing about it to Rorie, and instead concentrated on stitching up a pair of jeans that I had gotten a hole in. I used a piece of leftover fabric from the last nightgown I had made for myself to patch it up, and it looked pretty decent if I did say so myself.

When Rorie got home she was exhausted and went for a nap while I looked after the house, dusting, sweeping and scrubbing down everything that could be scrubbed, all the while making sure my mother had everything she needed. Bear for some reason was on edge. The slightest movement seemed to make him alert, and he wasn't being as bothersome as he usually was. I just chose to ignore the bi-polar dog, and kept on thinking toward the exciting evening ahead.

I woke Rorie up shortly before she had to leave for work and said goodbye to her just like any other day. After serving my mother some dinner and putting her to bed, I told her my plan and kissed her goodnight.

It was pitch black out when I left home, since the sun still set rather early, and it was, after all 10:30. Since I didn't have a leash for Bear I told him firmly to stay beside me or he'd get taken away and tossed into the cold, but as usual he didn't do what I'd asked of him. While we were walking down the dark streets he rushed ahead of me. It wasn't as if he didn't know where he was going, since he had followed Rorie to work on multiple occasions. Out of the shadows however, loomed an odd looking man who looked a little sketchy. Bear walked right past him without a thought, but I didn't have the same luck.

The man, I suppose, had been leaning against the brick wall of a nearby building, and when I moved to pass him as quietly and inconspicuously as possible, he walked out to meet me.

"Why good evening. What is a pretty Miss like you doing out so late?" he asked in a voice that sounded as drunk as his breath smelled. I wasn't quite sure whether or not I should answer him, and so I mumbled a quick "I'm fine, thank you" and continued on my way. The man obviously wasn't pleased with my response and so he began to follow me.

"How's about we go somewhere nice together." I heard his voice say from behind me. This time I ignored him and quickened my pace a little. Rorie would kill me if she heard what I was doing. The Stop and Go wasn't even that far away, why was this happening to me!

Unfortunately the man kept his own pace as well, and wouldn't leave me alone. Scared, I broke into an all out run, hoping desperately to get away from him, but I just wasn't cut out for it. The sad thing was, all I could think about is how angry Rorie was going to be with me if she found out, or worse! If she found my dead body on her way home!

It was all I could do you yell out for help, but I was out of breath, and the sound didn't carry very far. Nevertheless, a black streak that I recognized as Bear rushed past me, and I turned in order to see what was going on. Growling, Bear had the man pinned on the ground, his teeth bared ferociously. The man appeared to be unconscious, but if it was because of Bear or because of his drinking I couldn't be sure. Bear then came and grabbed the sleeve of my jacket, eager to pull me back in the direction of home.

"No! I have to see Rorie!" I argued...with the dog. Growling Bear wouldn't see reason, until I was dragging him down the street alongside me.

"I'll be fine silly dog. Being chased by a drunk is like getting hit by lightning right? It only happens at the same place twice." I tried to tease, but it didn't look like the dog found my joke funny at all.

"Oh come on." I retorted, and then realized with a start that I was trying to have a conversation with an animal. For some reason it seemed particularly easy when it came to Bear.

"Let's just pretend this never happened okay?" I asked, to which I received an annoyed huff in response, but at least he let go of me.

When we arrived at the Stop and Go it appeared that Rorie already had company. And it wasn't Frankie either! Through the glass wall I could see Rorie talking to a man who looked just as she described Zachary as earlier. Crouching down to avoid her noticing me, I watched them talk for a minute. Rorie was definitely pouring out the charm, and Zachary was laughing right along with her. But it was only there, crouched on the ground, that I realized something my sister hadn't told me. Zachary had only one leg. Rorie would fall for a guy like that. I thought to myself. And if that was his sports car parked outside the store then I knew it wasn't as if he'd plan on taking her money.

As soon as I'd completely evaluated the situation, I thought it safe to enter. But just I opened the door and the little bell rang, Bear bounded into the store barking like he had rabies and sitting right at Zachary's foot.

"Bear? Gwen? What the heck are you guys doing here?" She asked, obviously unamused.

Laughing awkwardly I shrugged.

"Bear wanted a midnight snack."

Now I could only hope my sister would introduce me to the guy who was obviously smitten with her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six – Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

Closing Time  
- Semisonic

Rorie

I almost couldn't believe Gwen, almost. I had a really bad feeling about this but knew that it was only polite that I introduce my sister—and I suppose the dog, to Zachary. But first I needed to apologize. "I'm really sorry about this." I told him, coming around the counter and shooing Bear away from his spot at Zachary's heel. "Get off him stupid! I'm so sorry." I apologized again.

"It's fine." Zachary smiled, patting Bear on the head a few times. The dog seemed to like it as he rubbed his nose against Zachary's hand and placed one of his paws on Zachary's foot. It was almost cute.

With a sigh I figured I had nothing to lose now so I pointed to Gwen, "Zachary may I introduce my, so dead, little sister, Gwen. Gwen this is Zachary. Are you happy now?" I questioned her as she skipped over to us both, shaking Zachary's hand as he continued to lean on his crutch.

"Nice to meet you." Gwen nodded in agreement, over enthusiastically continuing to shake his hand for a bit longer than normal. She only stopped when I cleared my throat.

"Sorry about her, Gwen is sort of socially awkward." I told Zachary under my breath which resulted in Gwen smacking me lightly. "What, it's true!

"I know you didn't come to get a snack for Bear, so just confess that you were spying." I rolled my eyes.

Gwen huffed a bit then gave in, "I was spying. But Bear wanted to come too!" she insisted but really how daft did she think I was. Bear would go wherever she did, though by the looks of it he was getting along fairly well with Zachary whom was petting the dog happily yet with a strange look on his face.

"What?" I asked him, hopping up to sit on the counter.

"Umm... how long have you had the dog?"

I thought about it for a moment before I replied, "A little over a month. He's so cute." I faked, petting the dog in what I hoped appeared to be a loving manner.

Zachary nodded a bit and mumbled that it was cool we had gotten an adult dog instead of a puppy like most people did. "Ya, we took him in off the street. He keeps mom company when we can't be home with her, since she's so sick." Gwen said eagerly, which earned her a swift slap from me this time. I had yet to tell Zachary anything about my family, let alone that my mother was so ill that she rarely left her room without help, let alone the house. "What!"

"Your mom is sick?" Zachary inquired, but before I could answer Gwen answered for me.

"Mhmm, for a while now actually... That's why Rorie is working here, so she can stay and help take care of mom. She was away at school for a while-" when I hit Gwen again I think she finally got the hint. Apparently, however, it had had the opposite effect than I thought such information would have had on Zachary.

"That's really sweet. What were you going to go to school for?"

"Science." I smiled. I would have to remember to thank Gwen later.

"Neat, I went through for journalism." He told me, turning away from Gwen and Bear. He was so adorable.

"You any good?" I joked.

Thankfully he laughed, maybe catching a bit of the innuendo that wasn't really intended, "Depends on who you ask."

"Written anything I might have read?" I waved my hands around as if to say I perused the majority of the magazines the store carried.

"Maybe, not that I'm too proud of certain things I have covered." he glanced to my left quickly but that was barely for a moment so I didn't really take notice of what he was looking at. Things were going surprising well considering the unexpected appearance of my sister and the mutt, at least until the bell on the door rang.

"Well well well, look what we have here. I thought you said he wouldn't be back Rosings, and what the hell is your sister doing here?" At least he hadn't noticed the dog, yet.

"I came to get our dog some treats." Gwen attempted to think quickly on her feet however it just drew attention to the third violation. All I could do was smack my forehead.

"Dog's aren't allowed in the store unless they are for aid purposes, Rorie." Frankie hissed, as I slid down off the counter and grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck so I could drag it outside. For once Bear didn't resist.

"I tried to tell her that sir but Gwen wouldn't listen to me and I was trying to serve the customer."

Frankie laughed as I came back from letting the dog out, "I'm sure you were serving him alright." He smacked my ass, causing me to grumble and a startled look to cross Zachary's face. Frankie certainly was a different kind of boss.

"Sorry." I murmured to Zachary as I went back behind the counter, where I was supposed to have been all along.

"I really think you should be apologizing to me instead Rorie. This is the end of the line! You've pulled one stunt too many." Frankie barked, which I knew was not nearly as terrible as his bite. I knew what was coming.

I immediately went back around the counter to plead with him, "Come on Frankie it won't happen again. I promise you." I grabbed his shirt in my hands, desperate for him to back off of his threat.

"Oh I'm sure it won't-"

"I'll do anything Frankie. Please." I all but begged, Gwen and Zachary looking on in wonder. Though I was sure Zachary knew what was likely coming I was also positive that Gwen had no idea at all.

They were getting me fired.

All Frankie could do about my pleas however was laugh, "It would take a lot more than you would be willing to do to get me to not fire you right now Rorie. Trust me."

"Ew." I backed off a bit but continued to try, "Frankie I need this job. You know the situation we're in."

"Well you should have thought of that before sweet heart. Take your pose and leave-"

"Frankie." I began to cry, not because I thought the tears would help my case but because I was actually terrified.

"You're fired." he asserted firmly, while I was completely speechless.

Nodding solemnly I headed into the back room and emptied out the corner where I kept my stuff. By now the tears were streaming down my face, I had to take a moment to compose myself before going back out into the store, however it didn't really work.

When I went back out, my jacket on and other things stashed in my arms, I threw my Stop and Go shirt violently at Frankie. "Ah no shirt on under the jacket. Go for it man." He gave the nod to Zachary who was at the door with Gwen.

"I have a sweater on." I rolled my eyes and stormed out, followed closely by my pose as Frankie had called them. I immediately sat down on the curb, "I can't believe he fired me." I was still in shock, no matter how much I expected it.

For some reason the dog must have understood how upset I was because Bear came and rested his head on my lap gently for a moment before going over to Zachary once again. They both seemed to like each other so I left well enough alone.

"I'm really sorry Rorie, its all my fault." Gwen apologized awkwardly but I shook it off.

"It's not your fault. It's been coming for a while now I think; he's just been putting it off because of how much he likes to touch my bum. It's probably the furthest he's gotten." I joked trying to make light of the situation. "Well I guess we better head home then."

Shrugging I got to my feet and whipped the wet snow from my hands—it was almost starting to go away. "It was really nice seeing you again, but I should really get Gwen home, it's a little bit of a walk and it's getting late." I offered him my hand but he didn't take it.

"You know I could give you guys a ride." Zachary offered kindly, scuffing his foot a little.

I thought about it for a moment then noticed the dog, "But Bear is all wet, he'll wreck your gorgeous car. We'll be fine."

"Really, it's okay. Hop in." he instructed, going to get in the driver's seat.

"Are you sure?" I asked again.

"Yes." Zachary nodded with a smile, "Come on Gwen get in." She did as she was told, the dog bounding around the car to the other front seat.

"Hey you, get in the back." I ordered it, opening the back door for the dog so he could get in. He did not seem pleased that I was going to be sitting in the front seat and he wasn't.

It was interesting to watch how Zachary drove. His car was outfitted so that he could drive it without the presence of a right leg. I didn't want to stare so I just watched out of the corner of my eye as I gave him the directions to our house. It was a rather silent ride but when we pulled into the unused driveway Gwen leaned through the seats as Zachary parked the car so we could get out, "He is so cute!" she squealed, however she wasn't quiet enough because it was obvious that he heard her just as well as I had. When I groaned she took it as her cue to get out and bring the dog with her. "Bye Zachary, it was nice to meet you." she said quickly as she climbed out of the car.

"You're welcome, night." he called as she and Bear went inside what probably looked to Zachary like a pathetic little house. "She's sweet."

"Ya, she's cute. Thank you, you really didn't have to give us a ride, we're used to walking." I said, getting ready to get out of the car.

Zachary reached out for my hand to stop me, "It was nothing. I want to apologize, I'm sorry we got you fired. Is there some way that I can make it up to you?"

"No, no, don't worry about it, like I said its been coming. And I'm glad you came, I'm just sorry you had to see that." I admitted sadly.

"It was actually rather endearing. Please let me do something... come out for dinner with me-" he tried but I cut him off.

"Zachary, really it's fine, you don't have to." I couldn't help but smile at the very thought though, and that he found me cute despite everything.

"I know I don't, but I want to. We'll bring Gwen too and get something for your mom." he assured me.

"Really?" I questioned.

I guess he couldn't help but laugh, "Really. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to. Remember that."

"Alright then, when do you want to go?"

"In a few days, I'll come and pick you up."

Nodding I gave in, "Okay. I'll see you then, if you want to stop by before that you know where to find me. I don't have anywhere else to go." I laughed, opening the car door and swinging my feet out but he stopped me.

"Rorie?"

"Ya?" I asked turning back to him. Zachary pulled me into a tight hug, and I had to confess to myself that it felt wonderful, and that he smelt really good. "Thank you." I whispered into his shoulder. When we let go both of us were beaming. "Goodnight."

"Night Rorie."

Getting out I waved at the door and he waved back. I could hardly wait to go out for dinner with him, regardless of the fact that Gwen would be coming with us—it was a very sweet gesture. Now I guess the only thing left to do was break the news to mom.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven – Hoping I could learn a bit 'bout what is true and fake

New Soul  
- Yael Naim

Gwen

As soon as I heard Rorie come in from talking with Zachary I dashed to our bedroom and hid underneath the covers. I knew that I was in for it, and she didn't know half of what it took for me to get to the Stop and Go in the first place.

"Where is she Bear? You two deserve a stern talking to." My sister grumbled from the living room. The padding from the dog's feet got closer and closer to the bedroom. The stupid mutt was leading her right to me. The whole thing was going to be blamed on me, I just knew it, but in reality it was Bear that was the real guilty party and yet he was leading me to my execution.

When Rorie lifted up the covers to the bed that we shared, I squealed, frightened that I was going to be whacked with a pillow or something worse. Instead though, I felt a thud as Bear jumped on to the bed and laid down right next to me.

"What were you thinking Gwen! Zachary probably thinks I am such a loser now!" She said, her arms crossed.

"Well he can't think all that bad of you since you got a hug before he left. Oh Ror he is so cute!" I exclaimed. If I was a cartoon character my eyes would probably be hearts.

"You were even eavesdropping then? You're such a pain! I wouldn't do that to a guy you had a crush on!" She argued.

"I highly doubt that. If I ever brought a guy home you would treat him like a suspect in a murder trial before letting me go out with him! Besides, you won't have to worry about that any time soon since the opposite sex finds me unappealing." I mumbled covering myself up again. Rorie groaned.

"Gwen you know that isn't true, but maybe if you stopped acting shy all of the time people would actually get to know you better."

"Why? So they can just be disappointed when they realize that my life is going nowhere. I'm not bitter, I just have to take my rose-coloured glasses off every once and a while to see what the truth of the matter really is. What man out there wants to get in a relationship with an uneducated, unintelligent and poor girl like me. You on the other hand have looks, brains and a sparkling personality. No, I am more then happy to live my love life vicariously through you. Which is why dear sister, you needed my approval on our Zachary." I teased from beneath the covers. We waited in our room in silence for a while, until we both realized that we still needed to tell our mother the bad news about Rorie being fired. We reached a mental consensus, and I crawled out from where I had been hiding.

"Let me tell mom Rorie – about your job I mean. It's my fault." I said quietly. Smiling a little, my sister shook her head.

"No, there isn't any point. We'll tell her together. At least now I'm able to be home with you two more." Nodding, the two of us went into mom's room, where she was sleeping peacefully on the bed. I almost hated to wake her up since she looked so serene, unfortunately it couldn't really be helped. Our family had always been one of full disclosure. Bear got down off of the bed to follow us, looking slightly dejected as well. Did he feel guilty? I hoped he did.

Tapping lightly on mom's shoulder I woke her up.

"Gwen honey? What's the matter?" She asked. "Did you meet Zachary? Was he every bit as handsome as Rorie said he was?"

"Yeah mom, I met him, and he was perfect. But that's not why I'm – we're here. You see -"

"I got fired from my job, I'm really sorry, but you know how Frankie is-" Rorie cut in, but I interrupted her again.

"-and Bear ran into the store and Frankie saw us and Zachary talking to Gwen and he was upset. Personally I think getting away from him was a good thing, since he insists on slapping her ass uncouthly." I finished.

My mother's face didn't show any signs of disappointment or anger, not that I even thought that it would, but I couldn't help but think she was upset even when she wasn't since I always wanted to please her so much. She had worked so hard her whole life, and Rorie and I couldn't even keep enough food on the table. There had to be more we could do, but I didn't know what it was, since she got sick there was even less of an opportunity to go out and find more work.

"Don't worry about it my dears. All we can do is pray for things to work out and take it one day at a time. Go to sleep and fret not, we will worry about what will come in the morning." She said softly, and leaning forward to kiss us both on the cheek, she laid back down to go to bed. Hugging Rorie I whispered that I was sorry in her ear, and that was the last word that I said before crawling into bed for real this time. Bear curled up on the floor, whining slightly, and it was the first time I realized how cold it was in our house. Under the covers it was difficult to tell, but I felt bad for the dog who only had his fur to protect him from the chill. Rorie had fallen asleep instantly, no doubt dreaming of Zachary and who knows what else, but I snuck out and laid a blanket over Bear, giving him a pat on the head. I think the incident with the drunkard made me appreciate him a little more, and I wanted to make sure he was well taken care of.

The next morning dawned bright and clear, the sun looked warm enough to melt the last vestiges of snow and cover the ground in a sloppy, wet slush until it disappeared completely. Rorie had told me we were going to dinner with Zachary in a few days, and so I wasn't sure how I would focus during my shift at the Music Mart. Rorie had walked me there as usual, but this time, it seemed like Bear insisted on walking right next to me, almost as if he was scared that if he left our sides, somebody scary was going to come after us. When Rorie went to leave, Bear growled at the thought of leaving which didn't impress her overly much. Even the dog knew that she could take care of herself and had no need of his services.

"Go on Bear, it's fine." I urged, but the animal refused to budge from the entrance way of the store.

"Just let him stay here all day then. See how bored he'll get." Rorie reasoned and headed for home.

"You know, I'm at work. Nobody is going to hurt me here. I guess that episode last night bothered you more then me, but then again that would make you the sensible one wouldn't it?" I asked, stroking his head before I went inside to start my shift.

"Hey Gwen, who's the pooch?" I heard Stacy ask from behind me.

"This is my dog Bear." I said, and with a start realizing that it was the first time that I had referred to him as _my_ dog.

"Oh. Nice. I must admit he looks a bit out of your league. A girl like you I'd expect to have a fluffy poodle." Stacy said. Bear ruffed, and growled as if he had been insulted.

"Hey, does the dog understand people talk?" She asked perturbed. "You know I heard somewhere that they can only understand body language. You have no freaking clue what I'm saying do you, you big dummy!" She said in a voice that sounded kind smiling, as if to test her theory. Bear narrowed his eyes and snapped at her outstretched hand.

"Well there goes that theory. You're dog is smart. You can kind of see it in his eyes, they're all green and seem like there is some understanding there." She said. Funny, I never would have pegged the teenaged goth as a dog person, but then again she was impossible to classify.

In a way I guessed that she was right. Bear did seem like he understood everything that people said to him, and he chose whether or not he wanted to respond. Thinking like that was a little crazy though, so I just figured that he was an overly intuitive pet – a dog savant.

"Are you going to get to work Stacy?" Randy asked, poking his head out of the store.

"Yeah Rand-man, I'm coming." She groaned, swinging her backpack over her shoulder and trudging in.

"I don't mean to rush you Gwen, but your shift does start in a minute." He said to me in a much pleasanter voice.

"Sure thing Randy. My dog just refuses to go home, and I hate to leave him out here. See Bear, you're going to be very bored." I argued with the animal.

"Oh no worries Gwen, if he behaves himself he can come in, it's not like it will be unsanitary since we don't serve food or anything." Randy said in an attempt to impress me.

"Thank you Randy, that's really kind. Bear is just really stubborn." I answered giving him a kiss on the cheek and leading my dog inside the Music Mart. He seemed to be taking in all of the sights of the small store, and as I got behind the counter to put on my nametag he sat down right next to me.

"You're just lucky Randy has a crush on me, otherwise it'd be outside for you. The dog gave me a look that said _That guy has a crush on you? He has to be 40 years old._ And even though I knew that an animal couldn't possibly comprehend such things as age differences and boundaries when all they cared about was mating with the first available female I answered, but then again I suppose that description counts for men too.

"It's innocent. He's not like Frankie, he'd never disrespect me. Plus I think Stacy would kick him in the behind if he tried, and have you looked at her shoes? They could kick through concrete." I teased, stroking the dogs head gently. While I set about organizing the paperwork I needed to fill out at the end of my shift.

The day passed by relatively quickly, the dog seemingly satisfied by just watching the television was surprisingly well behaved, and Randy had no problem with his presence. In fact, so many girls commented on how cute he was that Bear probably increased the popularity of the store, and it seemed as if the dog knew just how to suck up to them. He rolled over on his back and playfully swatted at their hands when they went to pet him, or licked their faces lovingly causing them all to squeal with delight. I shook my head at his antics, but didn't much care if I didn't get in trouble for it.

Rorie met me when it was time for my shift to end, and the three of us walked home together, though my sister seemed slightly troubled. When I asked what was wrong, she just sighed mournfully.

"I have nothing to wear to dinner with Zachary. I can't go."

I thought about it for a moment, and realized with a start that she was right since all of our relatively fancy clothing were out of date, out of shape and un-wearable.

"Don't be silly. It doesn't matter what you wear. Besides he saw Frankie grab your bum and he's still interested. You never worry about this sort of thing so it must mean you really, really, like him huh?" I asked grinning wildly. Rorie turned around and smirked, grabbing my shoulders.

"Yes Gwen I 'really, really' like him and I want to make a good impression. He probably thinks we can't afford clothes what with all the stuff you told him at the Stop and Go."

"Umm earth to Ror – we can't afford clothes. But I think I have a better idea." I said, rushing home as quickly as possible and pulling out my sewing kit. We couldn't afford a sewing machine, but my stitches were so precise that I didn't need one. I could use all of our old clothes to make something befitting Rorie's first date with Zachary.

When I wasn't working for the next two days, I was working busily on my creation. I felt just like the fairy godmother from Cinderella as I fashioned a strapless, semi-formal dress for her made with patches of our old materials. It was short, but not so short that she would be considered a prostitute as it rode just above her knees, and it wasn't skin tight, but tight enough to show her curves. It was truly original; the patchworks style something I had thought of after seeing it in a few fashion magazines. Couple it with Ror's only pair of dressy shoes and it'd be perfect. While I worked, Bear sat with me, watching intently as I sewed one patch on at a time. I'd talk to him all through the process, about what I was doing, but sometimes about much deeper things. Right when I was finishing up the final edging on the dress before work, I had a thought.

"You know Bear, if Rorie ends up falling in love with Zachary and moving away I don't know what I'll do. I've had to switch lifestyles before, but never without her. She's always been there for me when I needed her, but if she has Zachary there will be much more important things to worry about then her wimpy little sister. I've thought about this before, and I'm certain if I ever asked she would tell me that she'd never leave me, but that's not fair to her. I don't want to hold her back like I have before. She has so much potential and I want to see her reach it before it's too late - I guess that's why I'm so eager to help her with him. Do you know how hard it is to find a good-looking, well-mannered and honest guy in this stupid city?" I asked frustrated. Bear barked in acknowledgement of my predicament.

"You're right. Very hard, so what's a girl to do?" I sighed. Whining, Bear put his head on my lap while I tied off my last stitch.

"Oh well, it's no matter, I've got to get ready for work. I don't think I'll surprise Rorie until after though. And I almost forgot, I made this for you." I said tying a collar I had made with the leftover material from the dress around Bear's neck. I had even embroidered his name on it with gold thread I had been saving, and I thought it looked pretty sharp.

"There you go. Now I won't get any more bimbo customers asking me what your name is since you've decided to be a permanent fixture at the Music Mart."

Rushing to have a shower and bring mom breakfast, I left for work with Rorie, only making it there right on time. We would have to go straight to the restaurant from the Music Mart, so I had brought my own outfit to change into after. It wasn't nearly as nice as Rorie's, but I was going as her sister, not as the date, so I didn't care what I looked like. A simple skirt and t-shirt was alright by me.

Work dragged by, and it was relatively slow so I passed the last 10 minutes watching the entertainment channel Randy had left on. There was a newscast on about Oryn Jacoby for the first time in a long while. The bright blond anchor was next to a picture of the long-missing star, explaining an update about his search.

"Long time best friend of Jacoby, 'STAR!' Reporter Zachary Lewis, has been sighted in a small city just south of his hometown of New York. Could he possibly know of the whereabouts of his friend? Jacoby's former agent Adam Lake is interviewed next." She said, and then the show cut into a commercial.

Zachary Lewis? What was Rorie's new boyfriend's name? Could Oryn be the friend he was looking for? I wasn't sure, but just as I saw my sister walk in I changed the channel. This couldn't be a coincidence could it? Best not tell her yet, especially since she was beaming as she walked in wearing her new, recycled dress.

"Gwen it's perfect! Thank you so much! Hurry up and get changed, we don't want to be late!" She said, practically floating with all of her excitement.

Glancing over at Bear, we gave each other a mildly concerned look, until I rushed to the bathroom to get changed, convinced that I could forget about what I had just seen.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight – 'Cause I'm feeling nervous, Tryin' to be so perfect

Things I'll Never Say  
- Avril Levaigne

Rorie

Once Gwen was ready we headed to the restaurant. Zachary had contacted her at work one day to let her know the plan I guess as I had not seen him since he had dropped us off at home. The trouble was I knew what sorts of restaurants were downtown, and as we were walking from the Music Mart it was clear that he had chosen one of them. The weather was nice thankfully so it did not take long for us to get there in the cool spring chill. I was glad that winter was nearly over because both of us had wanted to look put together so we weren't wearing our thickest jackets, so the slightly warmer temperature was definitely a plus.

While on our way there a car honked at us as the driver proceeded to roll down his window and cat call at us. I couldn't help but laugh but I could tell that Gwen was confused, "That was all on you." I smiled, glad that something had happened to break the nervous air around us.

Once we were out on the main street I was better able to guess what restaurant Zachary had chosen and I was not pleased—thrilled but not pleased, especially once we stopped at the front door. "Of course he would pick this restaurant." I sighed. From the first time Zachary had met me it should have been evident that I was afraid of spending money, and now with losing my job the paranoia had just increased. I suppose I would just have to keep reminding myself that he was paying and that it was evident that he was not lacking in the financial department.

Bear had followed us and it was all that I could do to make him stay outside when Gwen and I went in. The woman at the greeting stand looked at us sceptically however Zachary must have seen us because he rushed right up to the podium from the booth where he had been sitting—beaming brightly, "Hi."

"Hey." I responded, a huge smile crossing my face as he took my arm and greeted Gwen.

It was then that I heard the scratching at the door. Gwen must have heard it too because she politely stopped us, "Just a second." She immediately went to the door and pushed Bear away from it, scolding him for possibly hurting the door and being bothersome. He whined loudly but thankfully stopped scratching.

"Poor guy." Zachary sighed slightly, I almost wanted to say that it was no more than he deserved but I knew better, so I just nodded instead. Zachary really seemed to be sympathetic towards the thing.

When we got to the table Zachary pulled out a chair for me, though it seemed slightly awkward as his crutch got in the way a bit. He probably would have tried to do it for Gwen too if she had not sat down fast enough, though I think she had wanted to avoid such an event.

There were already 3 menus on the table, they were only one page so it was clear that the restaurant was very specialized. What caught my attention however were the descriptions, "They don't have any prices shown." I muttered a little nervously as Gwen perused the selection.

"Don't worry about it. Pick something you like, and Gwen if you wouldn't mind finding something for your mom too." Zachary instructed kindly to which she nodded in accordance. Things were fairly quiet from then on until the waiter came over, he was rather cute himself and I guess he must have thought I was as well as he was being rather flirtatious.

"How are you ladies doing?" he asked, completely ignoring Zachary.

However it was him who answered, "We are doing well."

"Would you like anything to drink?" the waiter continued, giving Zachary a slight glare.

"Water please." I ordered, Gwen got a diet Pepsi, and Zachary followed my lead but also ordered a bottle of wine for the table. When he left I turned to Zachary, "I've never really had wine before."

"I'm actually surprised they have the one I ordered, it's not that common. It tastes more like juice than other wines, that's why I like it." Zachary shrugged a little, "I'm sure you'll like it. Or at least Gwen will." he laughed and so did we.

We must have been our waiter's top priority because he was back already. After handing out our drinks he began to flip over the wine glasses that were already present on the table. Instead of just leaving the bottle in the chill bucket that was beside the table he uncorked it, "Would you like me to pour you a glass?" he asked me, a slight sneer crossing his face,

"Yes please." Gwen answered instead, and I kicked her under the table.

Zachary put his hand on mine protectively, "I think we're fine, thank you." The waiter put the bottle down harshly, rolling his eyes, and left.

"Sorry, thank you." I smiled at Zachary. The waiter had been making me feel a tad uncomfortable. All I could do was hope that he would stop now as I sipped my water a bit nervously.

"You didn't do anything. Here." Zachary said, picking up the bottle and pouring each of us a glass (starting with Gwen). It was really sweet that he was including her.

I swished my glass a bit, like I had seen people do on TV at work, before taking a little sip. "Mmm." He was right, it did taste like juice. Gwen must have liked it too because she began to drink hers a little too fast before putting it down. She must have realized she was chugging an alcoholic drink and that she was by far not immune to its effects.

Small talk ensued until after we ordered our food and it arrived. It was then that real in-depth conversation began—thanks to Gwen.

"So how did you lose your leg?" Way to go Gwen! Tact was never her strong suit and the presence of alcohol in her system certainly did not help.

I immediately chocked on the bite of food I had been taking, "Gwen!" I spluttered.

Zachary also seemed startled but shook it off, "No, no, it's fine. I lost it in a car accident when my leg got pinned between the bumper of a car and a rough metal fender that ran along the wall of the parking garage we were in."

"Oh." Gwen muttered.

"That's horrible. But I'm glad you're alright." I smiled, this time putting my hand on top of his.

"Me too. It could have been a lot worse; if I would have been another few feet over I might not be walking at all, or dead." I guess he was trying to look on the bright side. In attempt to change the subject Zachary asked us a few questions. "Have you always lived here?"

I nodded, "In the same house, on the same street, all our lives. Dad left so mom took on an extra job to make ends meet. She worked herself too hard and is now paying the price. She only ever wanted the best for us—and that's all we want for her." I sniffed a bit so Gwen continued.

"We were attached at the hip when we were younger, and through high school we entered a bit different circles but always made time for one another. I was really sad when Rorie was going to go away to school, but happy because she would be so great, you know."

"I just couldn't do it. I couldn't make Gwen handle things on her own, though I know she would try." I took Gwen's hand for a moment but then let it go. "We're not that exciting really." I laughed. "Where are you from?"

Until tonight Zachary hadn't really spoken about anything more than a few weeks past and even then only cryptically, I guess he felt it was about time to open up because he answered easily. "I'm an only child but grew up with my best friend being the sibling I never had. Neither of us was too excited at the first thought of our career paths but in the end we were both really happy for each other. It was perfect really. But recently I've been thinking of going in another direction. New York isn't personal enough and I've been thinking of changing my demographic for a while now and I have something in the works... I know he would be supportive, but-" he shrugged. I understood then that Zachary's friend, whom he had mentioned before, still hadn't arrived, or at least that he couldn't find him.

I couldn't help but be a little sad for Zachary, and hoped above all else that his friend wasn't just blowing him off. It was the look on Gwen's face that caught my attention, "What?"

"Nothing... just thinking about something." she replied, becoming consumed by her meal again. She didn't say much for the rest of the night while Zachary and I became better acquainted. The more I knew about him the more enamoured I became, he was brilliant. I was just afraid that I wouldn't be able to compare.

When the evening was over, my mother's meal had been packaged, and the bill taken care of we left—and based on the service we had received I was sure our waiter had not been given the best of tips. Bear was still waiting outside, rather disgruntled and clearly perturbed. "Hey buddy!" Zachary greeted, petting the dog warmly as it jumped up at him but didn't actually land against him. He must have instinctively known that he would have knocked Zachary over.

The mutt barked happily and I could have sworn that he was almost saying Zachary's name but didn't think much of it. It clearly was just my mind playing tricks on me.

As we walked over to Zachary's car Bear did not take up his usual position beside Gwen however. Instead he walked along side Zachary on the side of his crutch as his other hand was timidly holding mine. Gwen was on my other side, giggling to herself wildly. She was having way too good of a time at my expense... okay not really.

Again Bear attempted to climb into the front seat of the car but when Zachary gave him a look he went around to the other side and climbed in beside Gwen instead. Defeated. The ride home was quick and smooth but the dog kept hitting the radio dials which there happened to be a copy of in the back seat, he eventually appeared to give up, disgruntled, as he hit it off emphatically. All of us laughed.

"I guess Bear couldn't find anything he liked." Zachary joked. When we arrived in our makeshift driveway Bear clambered out of the car over Gwen who followed him into the house, thanking Zachary profusely as she did.

"So..." I giggled nervously. I hadn't been on a real date in ages, let alone one that my baby sister also got to enjoy. "I don't know how to thank you, this was all really too much."

"Hey now, remember what I said?"

"That you wouldn't have asked unless you wanted to." I nodded, a small smile playing on my lips.

"Exactly." he said, opening his car door and moving to get out.

I tried to stop him, "You don't have to get out." I offered but he got out anyway.

"I want to walk you to your door." he laughed, he was trying to be cliché that time and it was obvious to us both. He offered me his arm when I met him at the front of his car. "I had a really good time you know, I'm glad you came."

"Me too." I beamed as we reached our door. We stood there for some time before we hugged and Zachary kissed me on the head gently. I breathed in contentedly and my mouth got the better of me, "You smell good." I laughed at myself and shook my head.

"Thanks." Zachary laughed back as I rubbed my forehead.

"Well, I should go to bed, I'm planning on looking for a new job in the morning, so I'll probably be running around town all day while Gwen is at work since it is really the only time managers are there." I hated to leave mom at home but it had to be done, I would just make sure Bear stayed home.

"I could drive you if you want. I didn't really have anything planned for tomorrow, we could fix up your resume even." he shrugged.

"You would do that?" I asked, a little flustered.

"Ya." he nodded.

I could barely believe it, "'kay." I answered a bit more breathily than I intended but I was just really shocked.

"Alright, I'll see you around 10 then?" I nodded enthusiastically—I was certainly more excited for my impending job hunt than I had been earlier that day. I waited on the doorstep until he had gotten back into his car and waved as he drove away. Closing the door behind me as I went inside I slid down it to sit on the floor, I almost wanted to squeal with glee—almost!

The next morning I walked Gwen to work, neither of us said much I could tell she was just holding back questions. Unfortunately for her I didn't open the flood gates. She would just have to wait until I got home that night, hopefully with more news than just about Zachary.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine – I'll see whose around

One Way Or Another  
- Blondie

Gwen

Zachary was officially my new best friend. I was certainly fine with my sister associating with him because he was just a downright nice guy. While I was shelving the new CD stock at work, I kept reflecting on what a gentleman he was, certainly one in a million. For the past few days following the dinner, he had been sticking around a lot, helping Rorie on her frantic job search, which still hadn't met with much success.

Nevertheless the more time they spent together the clearer it was that they were the most compatible couple you ever would see – though the truth of the matter was they weren't 'technically' a couple. But to the casual onlooker they sure looked like one, and so I chose not to mention to Rorie exactly who her new flame really was, or at least who I thought he was.

The work radio was blaring some new pop song or other, by whichever star had replaced Oryn Jacoby in fame for the time being – at least until the one year anniversary of his disappearance. With a sigh I finished unloading the cart I had been lugging around for the past hour and moved back towards the counter where Stacy had entered a staring contest with Bear, who had continued to follow me to work every day. Zachary seemed to find this phenomenon strangely compelling, and I noticed he kept a close watch on my new pet. Stacy on the other hand, was kept immensely amused, if not immensely off task with the dog as company.

"Oh you blinked! You _totally_ blinked Bear! I win!" She shouted, earning a look from the customers in the shop. I think Randy had just chosen to ignore her for the time being.

Bear didn't seem to agree with the outcome of the contest and he growled angrily.

"Come on Bear," I said stroking underneath his chin "you know that you'd may as well let her win, otherwise you'll be in for it. Aren't you a witch now Stace?" I asked, half teasing.

"A Wicca." She replied, pulling out a wiccan book of incantations out of her black knapsack underneath the front desk. Despite the fact that there were many customers to serve, she began leafing through it.

"Hey look. A spell to make animals talk on the night of the full moon. I wonder what you'd say Bear, if you could." She teased tossing him a treat she must have brought from home. Bear ate it happily, but in his ear I whispered.

"Careful, maybe that would turn you into a toad." Bear understood me, just like he always did, and spat the thing out, Stacy becoming a bit offended.

"As if. You just don't understand my beliefs."

"You're right. Sorry Stacy I shouldn't have said that." I apologized with a little giggle. I swore Bear was laughing right along with me as he rubbed his face against mine with a little lick. The rest of the work day was pretty uneventful, and by the end of the shift, Bear and I rushed home. Rorie didn't even pick me up anymore since she felt it wasn't exactly necessary with a 150 lbs dog as my escort.

Tonight Zachary was visiting us at home, so he could formally meet my mother. She was so looking forward to seeing him, since between my sister and I, all she heard was miraculous praise. Unfortunately, she was usually asleep or too unwell to receive visitors when he'd stop by. On my way home, I stopped at a small, local grocery store to pick up a few things that I planned on adding to our menu for dinner. We couldn't really afford for the luxury, but for Zachary I was willing to shell out the extra cash.

When I got home, Rorie was already hard at work tidying the house, and I began to cook dinner.

"You know Gwen, maybe I should cook." She suggested, knowing full well I'd probably mess up somehow.

"It's fine. I know what I'm doing. Tonight will be perfect Ror, don't you worry about a thing!" I insisted while Bear barked enthusiastically, running around to our bedroom and brining back a mouthful of CDs.

"Music? What a great idea! It could add some background ambience to dinner!" I exclaimed, asking Rorie to choose whichever soundtrack Zachary would like best. When he arrived, Rorie had already helped mom sit on the couch to greet him, while I set up the last plate on the table.

"Hello Gwen!" He said waiving from the doorway while I continued busying myself about the house.

"And you must be Mrs. Rosings. I've heard so much about you. It's an honour to meet you. You've raised such beautiful daughters." He said, offering mother his hand to shake, which she accepted gladly.

"I can't tell you how wonderful you've been around this house Zachary. I know my girls just adore you." She said with her biggest smile as she gestured for him to sit down.

Mom asked him questions about himself for a while, and I wished that he would say a little more about his career. As sure as I was about not giving away what I had learned, I also wanted him to own up to who he really was. Looking at Bear I passed an internal message, wondering if I should or shouldn't bring up the matter of his profession. Bear seemed to get what I was thinking, and he shook his head violently _no_. Oh well, what did the stupid dog know anyway.

"So Zachary, did you tell mom what you do for a living yet?" I asked innocently. Calmly Zachary responded.

"No, I haven't. But I guess this is as good a time as any to let you all know that I'm planning on staying here on a more permanent basis. I rented a condo downtown, and it's official as of midnight tonight." He said. "I'm going to be working for the local newspaper, they seem to be short staffed, and I've a fair hand in journalism." He said. I guess he wasn't kidding. He _was_ after all a world famous reporter. Bear seemed to huff and snicker a little bit underneath his breath, and left my feet to go over towards where the stereo I had won at a work Christmas party was.

Using his nose, I watched as he turned on the music, and miraculously, even switched tracks, and all I could hear were the words from the old song.

_I see your true colours shining,_

_I see your true colours, that's why I love you...._

Yet another uncanny moment for my dog, who at times amazed me. I wanted to exclaim out loud, but felt that might be giving too much away. I'd let Zachary explain in his own time.

"That's great Zachary. I'm so glad your staying but I guess its unfortunate that means you haven't met up with your friend yet." Rorie said, not really sounding shaken up about the situation.

"Nah, but he'll be around." Zachary answered, and again the dog began to switch tracks on the radio.

"Bear what the heck are you doing?" Rorie asked in bewilderment as a new song started to play.

_One way, or another, I'm gonna find you, I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha one way or another..._

"Do you think he'll be mad that you aren't trying to find him anymore?" I continued the conversation while Bear turned the track again, and this time it was the Police.

"_Every breath you take  
Every move you make  
Every bond you break  
Every step you take  
Ill be watching you_

_Every single day  
Every word you say  
Every game you play  
Every night you stay  
Ill be watching you"_

"Okay, that's just creepy." Zachary noted, glaring at the dog.

"Ignore him, he's just a dumb dog." Rorie said with an awkward laugh.

"Yeah." He replied, continuing a conversation with my mother. I couldn't help but notice however, the looks he kept giving to the dog out of the corner of his eye for the rest of the evening, right until he was at the door ready to leave after dinner.

"Thanks so much everyone. The meal was delicious and the company was even better but I'd better be going now, I have lots of unpacking to do in the morning. Oh by the way, I'm having a housewarming party in a couple of days. I'd love it if you could both come. I'll send you a card with the address and everything tomorrow. You can even bring Bear if you want." He said with a laugh that sounded like Rorie's from earlier.

"Night Zachary!" My family chorused in unison as we waived our goodbyes. After he was out of sight Rorie turned to face Bear.

"What got into you mutt? I really need to teach you about tact."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten – I've gone and let my impulse be my guide

No Good  
- Kate Voegele

Rorie

I tried not to let anyone see how happy I was about Zachary's news but once I was alone I could not help but do a little happy dance. He was staying! I could hardly believe it. He had found a place to live, a job, everything. Now if only I had the ability to find a job, things would be great. That night I think I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow, and though I could not remember my dreams subconsciously I knew they had been good.

Gwen must have let me sleep in that morning because she was gone by the time I woke up and the sun was already fairly high in the sky from what I could see out my window. It was the first time in years that I had slept in. Mom wasn't in the living room so I assumed she was in her room, but when I saw the note Gwen had tacked to her door I decided it was best not to disturb her.

I guess mom had not slept well and had been coughing all morning so Gwen had made her stay in bed. Pressing my ear up against the door I could hear that her breathing was shallow but she was also snoring lightly so I thought it best not to wake her up, she needed her rest.

Glancing at the clock I saw that it was already almost 11, I couldn't believe how late I had slept. Checking the mail, just in case, there was an envelope inside with mine and Gwen's names on it. I knew the writing to be Zachary's so I opened it to find a short note scribbled down with his new address and what time the party started. He was living relatively close to the mall so he suggested that we pick up Gwen after work that day and said that he would get me a bit early if I wanted to help him set anything up. Mom was invited too but that was more out of courtesy than anything. We all knew that she would stay home with Bear that night. He wasn't going to get a choice in the matter, and even though he was a dog I hoped that he would be alright with that. He and Zachary seemed to get along but he was going to be needed at home that night. I would walk Gwen to work that morning and lock him in my room if I had to, to get him stay home.

Better yet I would make Gwen convince him. I shook my head at the thought despite the fact I knew it would be convincing and not telling.

I spent the rest of the day laying on the couch reading one of the very few books we owned (I had read it at least 20 times already so it was a good thing I liked it). When mom finally woke up she called me as she was not well enough to get out of bed, it was afternoon then. She did not want anything to eat so I sat on her bed and talked with her until Gwen got home.

The next two days followed in much the same manner, mom seemingly the same but it was evident that she was not getting better in the slightest. I guess it had not taken a lot for Gwen to convince Bear to stay home with mom the third day because he licked her hand at the door before bounding into mom's room, jumping up on her bed, and curling up at her feet.

"Gwen, you really are a miracle worker when it comes to that dog." I mused as I closed the door behind us. I was just glad that I hadn't needed to wrangle the thing. I had heard her talking to Bear the night before in attempt to convince him, apparently it worked. She probably had promised to bring him something back from the party.

Gwen and I chatted openly on our way to Music Mart, and she instructed me on what to wear—to my relief. I raced home and got changed immediately and spent the day reading as mom and Bear had both settled in for a nap. They looked so peaceful together, maybe I would bring Bear something home too.

I was finished the book, which I had read extremely slowly to begin with, just in time for me to hear Zachary pull up the drive way. I could hear him hobble up the walkway distinctively, Bear must have too because he was at his feet the moment I let him inside—I hadn't even been able to give him a hug first.

Bear help his paw up to Zachary like any dog would if you said shake a paw but instead he slid it over Zachary's hand and then along the bottom. Zachary and I were both slightly amazed, all we could really do was stare. Apparently Bear didn't like that however because when neither of us said anything he huffed and bounded back over to my mother's bed, knocking the door closed before he jumped up next to her.

"Well then." I laughed, "Do you want me to bring anything?" I knew his answer would already be no but I also knew that it was polite to ask.

Zachary shook his head but then stopped, "Actually bringing you would be perfect." He made me smile brightly, "And a coat." Nodding I grabbed mine from the hook and threw it on before calling to mom that I was on my way out. She coughed a goodbye, which made me nervous but I knew there was nothing I could do so I ushered Zachary out the door and towards the car.

When I got in I paused for a moment before closing the door, "She'll be fine." I reassured myself and Zachary patted my hand but didn't say anything. What was there to say? Neither of us really knew if she would be and there was nothing she would let us do, so all I could rely on was hope.

The drive over to Zachary's new apartment was almost silent. I hadn't been on this end of town in a long time so I was taking in the change in view. A lot of updates and additions had been made so it was quite a sight. When we pulled into the driveway of Zachary's building I knew that it was one of the new one. The lobby of the building was beautiful, Zachary checked his mail box as we passed by (and as we had both expected it was empty). We rode the shiny new elevator up to the 4th floor where Zachary's condo was located.

Because of his leg he had decided to live on one of the lower floors just in case of an emergency or the elevator ever broke down. It would take an awful long time to go down any more flights of stairs.

I had to admit that I was rather impressed with the building, it was far more beautiful then I had imagined, however I suppose it seemed to match with Zachary's car and his more professional clothes. And the moment I stepped into his apartment it was clear that it matched with the expense of the rest of his style as well. I was sure that in the living room alone Zachary's furniture cost more than all the furniture in our house—that wasn't hard though.

It looked as if Zachary had spent a lot of time organizing his things, or someone else had, because all of his books and CDs were in alphabetical order, a system of organization after my own heart. Even though we only had a handful of either thing at our house I had spent the few minutes it took to alphabetise them more times than I cared to admit. If only I was able to get Gwen to put them back they were supposed to go things would have still been completely organized.

"This place is beautiful... a lot more than I'm used to." I shrugged flopping down on the couch next to Zachary. "So what do you need my help to do?"

"Decorate."

We spent the next few hours setting up for the party and by the time we were finished Gwen was getting off work so we went to pick her up. Zachary suggested that we grab a quick bite to eat, on him based on my help that afternoon. It was an excuse but we accepted it graciously. Pizza was always greatly appreciated. When we were done eating we headed back to the apartment. Gwen was just as stunned by it as I was but kept her sentiments to herself until Zachary excused himself and instructed us to greet anyone that arrived while he was indisposed.

A few people arrived during this time, I suppose most of the people Zachary had invited were from his new job because each of the people that arrived told us they were from the newspaper. I recognized a few faces but had never really met any of them personally, only read their work.

I was browsing Zachary's book selection, Gwen by my side musing about how great the apartment was and how nice it looked with the streamers we had put up earlier. Zachary had shown me how to adjust the lighting so it wasn't so bright and I was just in the middle of doing so when he came around the corner. No one clapped, just waved a bit and to me it seemed more sentimental.

"Hey." I greeted warmly as he came to stand beside me. "You look good." I commented, "I like this shirt."

"Thanks." he said, gratefully.

It was then that I noticed Zachary wasn't using his crutch. "Where's your crutch!" I exclaimed, stunned that he was walking around without it.

"I don't need it right now, look." he pointed to his leg and I breathed a sigh of relief. He was using a prosthetic.

"Doesn't that hurt?" I asked, worried that he should be comfortable. "I've never seen you wear it before."

Zachary looked at me as if he was astounded that I was concerned rather than happy, "It does a little but it's easier to get around between this many people with it than with the crutch."

"Oh. Then I suppose it's good that you wear it for now, don't wear it too long if it hurts." I made him promise, but a nod would have to do as it was all he offered. "Quite a few people have arrived."

"Probably almost everyone I invited." he joked offering me his arm.

We had put classical music playing quietly in the background and some finger foods set up on the island in the kitchen area. It was rather nice. Zachary spent a lot of the evening introducing me and Gwen to the people he would be working with. By the time the party had started to become a bit more laid back Zachary brought Gwen and I out on the balcony to show us the view. It wasn`t much as it was only a 4th story condo but it was still a nice atmosphere. He had cozy chairs set up and some potted ferns, it was pretty to say the least as the night lights of the city shone around us.

Gwen excused herself as she saw two more guests enter the apartment and she wanted to greet them. She was playing quite the hostess for the moment.

"So how do you like it here?" I asked Zachary warmly, coming to sit on the arm of the chair he had taken a seat in.

He shrugged, "I like it, it will take some getting used to though. The apartment doesn't quiet feel like home yet, but this place does." He swept his arm in front of him indicating he meant our city. "It's much more peaceful than New York."

"A nice change of pace." I offered getting up and helping him to his feet. It was a little cold to be out on the balcony, especially as neither of us were wearing coats. I saw Gwen come rushing toward as when we re-entered, the look on her face not displeased but a little confused. She didn't make it to us in time it seemed as the next second there were two people in front of us and she had turned in the other direction.

"Zachary! I knew the rumours had to be true. How have you been?" the man asked, a cheeky smile on his face while a rather fake looking one was plastered on Zachary's lips.

"Adam, why are you here?" Zachary did not sound happy.

The girl, with whom I assumed was Adam, detached herself from his arm and latched onto Zachary's. "Adam and I had heard a rumour that you had made your way to this city. He thought you might have found a lead on Oryn, and well, I just really missed you, so we decided to stop by."

Oryn? Oryn who—they couldn't mean Jacoby could they?

"That still doesn't answer my question, what are you doing here? At my apartment!"

"Well I called your parents and they instantly gave me your new address when I told them that I had lost it. It was ever so kind of them. Your notice must have gotten lost in the mail or you must have miss typed my email address." the girl purred.

"No I just didn't send it to you Natasha." Zachary tried to brush her off, wrapping his arm around my waist. I probably would have been happy except that I had no idea what was going on, or who any of these people were, maybe not even Zachary.

"Who's your little friend?" she asked, upset that he had blown her off for me.

Despite the fact I almost wanted to push it off I let his arm stay there just to prove a point, "I'm Rorie." I offered her my hand but Adam took it instead.

"May I introduce us more formally, I am Adam Lake and this is Natasha Fields. I've known Zachary for years, though I am not surprised that he has not mentioned me."

"At least by name." Zachary muttered under his breath and began rubbing his leg where the prosthetic connected.

"Is your leg alright?" I asked concerned.

Zachary nodded and kissed me on the forehead lightly, which was a bit of a surprise, "It's fine... and Natasha is an old friend."

"Girlfriend, actually." she corrected and took his other arm.

I pulled away from Zachary a little bit, "Really? How nice." It was my turn to smile fakely.

"Ex-girlfriend, actually." he mocked shaking her off. "We broke up over a year ago."

"Over petty differences." Natasha tried unabashedly to kiss Zachary on the cheek but he pushed her off.

"You wanted me to be in pain and you weren't very compassionate about the situation I had just been put in. I think those are far from petty."

"Either way, we came to see if you had made any sort of progress in your search for Oryn and wish you good luck. We heard you had taken a job with the newspaper here, good for you. A much better game to be in than the tabloid business if I may say so. Keep you out of trouble."

"Tabloids? Is that why you were always looking at STAR?" I questioned becoming a little upset, the more times they repeated Oryn and this little bit of information confirmed that it was Jacoby they had meant. "I had heard them talk about you on television... Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because it doesn't make a difference does it? I quit that job, and sure it was Oryn I was looking for but I wasn't getting anywhere. I like it here, and it doesn't change who I am."

"No it doesn't, but you still didn't tell us the truth. If you'll excuse me. I hope the two of you are very happy together and that you find what you were looking for Mr. Lake." I bowed my head a bit to the three of them and stormed off, not even bothering to collect Gwen. She would be safe there, and I needed to be alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone! I want to send out a huge thank you to qualcuno and Backroads for reviewing (and of course you too Jennie). We really appreciate the feedback! I went back through and added the name of the character who's POV the chapter is from to each chapter and will continue to as was suggested. I just wanted to remind everyone that Carys and I also have an account on Fiction Press under the author name Alisquared so if you have a chance feel free to check it out.

Thanks and I hope you all continue to enjoy the story and review,  
Dalikins

____________

Chapter Eleven – Say goodnight and go

Goodnight and Go  
- Imogen Heap

Gwen

As soon as I had snuck away from what I had predicted to be a dangerous situation I spent the next 20 minutes of Zachary's party sitting on his leather couch chatting with somebody or another. Generally I wasn't so discourteous as to not determine the name of someone I was conversing with, but I was too busy worrying about the two people Zachary seemed less then pleased to encounter. I didn't want to overhear what they were talking about since that wasn't exactly polite but I was sure it couldn't have been good.

After some time had passed however I began to get worried. I hadn't seen Rorie, Zachary or the two newcomers since I had wandered off and so I got up to search through the throngs of people that had arrived. I supposed that as some famous reporter or another, he was bound to have quite a few friends, but nevertheless I couldn't believe how many had shown up. I had decided to act as a hostess to give Zachary and my sister some time to themselves, but the job grew far more complicated then I had initially thought and I wasn't given any time to spy.

I eventually found Zachary on the deck of his apartment; looking angrier then I had ever seen him.

"What on earth could you have been thinking? I was trying to lay low until I found Oryn and you go and blow my cover!" He yelled at the couple. I watched as the woman stroked his arm and was instantly upset myself. Who was she to him? And as for the man, as attractive as I found him, I knew almost instantly that he was a big jerk just by the way he was grinning at Zachary like he didn't care what he was even saying.

"Then why didn't you answer my calls? I want to find Oryn just as much as you do." The man said. Zachary scoffed.

"I'm sure you do. But if I ever had my way, you'd leave him the hell alone – and Natasha, how many times do I have to tell you we are OVER! How dare you treat Rorie like how you did!"

I had no idea what was going on but as soon as I heard that I couldn't keep my mouth shut any longer.

"What happened to Rorie?" I asked quietly, slipping onto the deck. Three pairs of eyes snapped towards me

"Who is this little kitten?" The woman, who I supposed was named Natasha drawled.

"I'm Gwen Rosings and I want to know what happened to my sister. Zachary, where is she?" I demanded with as much force as I could manage, which was, admittedly not much.

"Gwen...look I'll drive you home in one minute okay?" He said in an attempt to remain calm.

"No. I want to know what happened. Who are they?" I continued. Instead of Zachary, the other man answered instead.

"I'm Adam Lake, Oryn Jacoby's agent, and this is Natasha Fields, Zachary's girlfriend. You might recognize her as the model on last month's Cosmo." He said, holding out his hand. Glaring a little I didn't shake it.

"Sorry, I don't read Cosmo, and I really couldn't care less what your credentials are. I think I'm going to leave. I'm disappointed in you Zachary. And here I was thinking you were this amazing person. I didn't even tell my sister who you really were after I figured it out at work since I thought you'd tell her the truth. I guess this is why Ror hates when I get involved. See you later." I said with a slight wave as I made my way to the door.

"Gwen please wait!" Zachary called out after me while he pushed through the crowd.

"Rorie would kill me if I let you go home alone." He said, slightly out of breath. I could see that his prosthetic leg was hurting him quite a bit and so I sighed.

"You're right, but I think that's probably going to be the last thing on her mind when she sees you next. You have a girlfriend? How could you do that to her? And don't say that you weren't leading her on because you totally were." I said getting into his car. He revved up the engine and we began driving back towards home.

"She's not my girlfriend. She used to be, but not anymore. I have no idea why she came with Adam, unless it was just to torment me. Is it true you knew who I was?"

"Yeah, I found out a few days ago while I was watching TV at work. It's not a big deal in the long run, and it was more of your buddies I was upset over. At least she's not actually your girlfriend. No wonder Rorie got so upset with you. So I suppose that the friend you've been looking for is Oryn Jacoby huh? Wow. You have friends in high places. Why the heck would he be here?" I asked.

"I have a lead, but it's probably safer if I don't tell you about it. I'm not the only one looking for him as you've probably noticed." He added distastefully.

"It didn't sound like you enjoy Mr. Lake's company all that much." I added, causing him to laugh a little.

"You would be correct. Oryn is my best friend, and I didn't question him when he picked who he wanted to be his agent. But that didn't mean I was very happy about it. Adam is really money conscious. It's all he cares about – well that and womanizing, but then again I suppose Oryn got like that too in the end. Wherever he is, I hope he's getting his attitude put in check." Zachary replied.

"Me too. He seemed like such a tool on television. Sorry I guess I shouldn't say that since he's your friend and everything."

"Don't worry about it. He deserves it. You know, he and I used to be in a band together, before he got really famous. Music was always his passion, and he was damn good at it too. We would plan for hours all of the things we would do when we got big. The problem was, I got my head out of that bubble, I knew it was never going to happen. Oryn was mad at me for a while then, and went out to search for fame on his own. He's talented enough that he found it, and we got over our differences." Zach said with a smile I recognized as one shared as a memory between friends. At that point he had pulled up to our driveway.

"Thanks for the ride. I'd ask you in but it's probably not the best idea. You need to give Rorie time to hate you before we go proving everything that made her mad was wrong. If you come see me at work in the next few days I'll let you know how it's going." I said giving him a little hug. Zachary smiled, albeit a little sadly.

"I'd better get back to my guests anyway. See you Gwen, and I'll take you up on your offer." He replied, and then drove off.

Rorie was already in bed by the time I got home, Bear curled up beside her as if trying to comfort her. When he saw me he got up, nudging my hand a little.

"How's she doing?" I asked. He whined a little bit.

"Don't worry Bear, I'll let her know that it was all a big misunderstanding. I don't have to work tomorrow so it will be a good thing." I said quietly, climbing into bed next to her. Bear laid down beside me, curling up as closely to me as possible.

The next morning I awoke to Bear's loud barking. It immediately struck me as odd, since Bear hardly ever barked, let alone so ferociously. It seemed Rorie was already up, and I could hear her opening our door. Someone must have come to visit. Wrapping a blanket around me I went out to see what all of the fuss was.

Rorie was grinning and talking to someone who I couldn't quite make out, but Bear was growling like I had never seen him before, almost like he was ready to lunge on our visitor and tear his throat out. Sneaking about to get a better look I was rewarded with the voice of Mr. Lake from the night before.

"Well if it isn't the little kitten from last night. Fancy meeting you here." He chuckled. I understood why Bear was growling. Rorie seemed to be not nearly wary enough in my opinion, but what was I supposed to say. She was heartbroken, and now I figured Zachary was going to pay the price.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve – Cause when I'm with him I'm thinking of you

Thinking of You  
- Katy Perry

Rorie

Days had passed since the party; it seemed so long ago now. I still had yet to hear from anyone about a job, not that I had a phone for them to contact me by but it probably wouldn't have mattered regardless. I had been spending a lot of time with Adam over the past few days. He wasn't that nice of a person but he dotted on me so at the moment I didn't really care. Besides I knew that it would piss off Zachary.

Gwen was clearly not too fond of the idea but at this point I didn't care overly much what she liked. She knew better than to try and sway my course at first but she had been mentioning Zachary more often in the last two days. She had obviously seen him over the week since the party and he had clearly convinced her that what had upset me wasn't true and so she attempted to relay the correct information, with the help of Bear who at one point pinned me down so I would have to listen. I did listen to her, really I did, but had yet to act on it. I knew that what she said was true based on what I had gathered from Adam but that didn't stop me from playing out my vengeance.

I had forgiven Zachary but no one but me needed to know that yet.

Adam had taken me out on the town, to fancy restaurants, everything I would have never let Zachary do. In all honesty we both knew we were using each other, but I was definitely getting more out of it than he was.

I had never really driven before as we had not owned a car since I turned 16, somehow Adam had found out about this and decided to give me the chance one day. He drove a Hummer, which made me slightly leery but if the opportunity arouse at the perfect time I assured him I would take him up on his offer.

The weather had cleared brilliantly and it was unnaturally warm out so Gwen and I had decided to sit on our front step in the sun. Neither of us really said anything to the other because all conversation had led to recently was argument. Mom was getting sicker but refused to acknowledge it. Gwen and I had become slightly fearful yet mom wouldn't hear any of it. Our pleas to her to let us bring her to a hospital were brushed off so we let her be. She had even shooed us away from her bedside which is why we had taken up our spot on the steps.

Gwen had had the day off work so we had cleaned the entire house and cleaned our driveway of what was left of the slushy snow. It was really a rather productive day.

We had probably been sitting there for almost an hour when Bear stood up from his seat next to Gwen and began to wag his tail. I knew only one person that got such a response from him so I got up in the same instance and went inside. I only closed the screen door so both of us could see one another but I think that was half the point, not that I really knew.

Zachary and Gwen greeted each other and he waved at me through the door, and I couldn't help but wave back but stopped myself before it went any further. I watched as Zachary went to our mailbox and checked it. I could have sworn I had done it earlier and found nothing but Zachary pulled out an envelope which I must have missed. He was using his crutch again which made me happier than I cared to admit—I knew the prosthetic leg hurt him more than it was worth at this point since he had never bothered to get used to it.

When he gave the envelope to Gwen she opened it easily. I could see over her shoulder that it was addressed to us but there was no return address on it. There was a letter and a cheque inside and from what I could tell from the contents of the letter it was from welfare. I hadn't known they had approved us, but chances are they had probably phoned my ex-employer, and well we weren't on the best of terms so I obviously never got the message. I wondered why they hadn't tried the Music Mart but I put it out of my mind when I saw the number on the cheque.

"$50 000!" I exclaimed, shocked beyond belief. I went right back outside and snatched the cheque right out of Gwen's hand. "Oh my God! This can't be right..."

"It has to be, they wouldn't send it if it wasn't." Zachary shrugged.

Gwen looked at both of us kind of sceptical before taking the cheque and heading inside, Zachary and I followed. "Do you think it could be back pay? For the time they owe us, or at least a little bit of it?" I asked.

"Maybe." Gwen said, heading into mom's room, clearly going to give her the good news. Zachary and I stared at each other for a minute when Gwen came back out, "She's sleeping."

"When she wakes up we should let her know that we are going to take her to the hospital tomorrow. Now that we have some money we can get some of the tests done that she needs." I said, glad that we could finally get mom some help. We might even be able to get a little bit of heat for the next two months until it was warm enough to do without it, and some food. Mom could use both of those, especially since I had lost my job.

It was then that I heard Bear start to bark viciously. I thought it had been because we had left him outside, but apparently I had been wrong as I heard the familiar roar of Adam's Hummer coming down the street. "Shit!" I raced into mine and Gwen's room. I quickly changed my shirt, putting on one that was a bit tighter than I normally would have worn, I actually think it was one of Gwen's.

I grabbed my jacket on the way out the door and found that Zachary was on our front step with Bear, staring down Adam whom had gotten out of the Hummer. "Hey Tiger! Kitten." he winked at me then waved nonchalantly to Gwen who was now in the doorway next to Zachary. "Zach."

Bear had yet to stop barking but I could see that Zachary was holding the collar Gwen had made the dog so that he wouldn't be able to get at Adam, otherwise chances were that he would probably would have attacked him. Yep, Bear really, really hated Adam, probably as much as Zachary even but at least he was able to veil his anger... at least somewhat.

"It's Zachary." I corrected him, Zachary hated being called Zach. I got a strange look from everyone but I decided to draw attention away from what I said by changing the subject. "Hey, Adam," I bit my lip flirtatiously, trying to be coy, "do you think I could try driving the Hummer today?" I leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sure thing baby." Adam said, curling a piece of my hair around his finger. I hated when he did that but didn't say anything. I went to climb up into the driver's seat but Adam stopped me, "Here Tiger, let me help you." he easily lifted me up and placed me in the seat.

"Thanks." I tossed my hair, spinning around so I was facing forward. I could tell that Gwen was stunned, and more importantly Zachary was pissed.

Adam kissed my hand lightly, "Ugh." I heard Zachary groan, rolling his eyes—I didn't blame him, I probably would have done the same if I saw myself at the moment.

Adam closed the door for me before running around the front of the car, hitting the hood, before opening his own door and climbing in. "Oh sorry Zach, I hope that didn't hurt your feelings, I know you wouldn't be able to run around the car like that or lift Tiger. Sucks doesn't it." Adam smiled more widely than I was comfortable with. He was mocking Zachary, and I couldn't figure out what to do about it, all I could do was stare at him. He tried to kiss me then but I pulled away so all he got was my cheek.

"Well kids we best be off, we have a reservation to make at Le Tapis Rouge." he was clearly trying to impress Zachary and Gwen, "Throw her in reverse Tiger, let's get out of here."

I paused for a moment and waved slightly at the congregation on the steps, I probably would have preferred to spend the evening with them, I just couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling I had. I attempted to ignore it as I shifted the car and reverse and hit the gas pedal, we shot out of the driveway like a bolt. I could tell that I had torn up a part of the lawn but laughed it off, "It probably would be a good time to mention that I don't have a licence."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen – You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

In the Arms of an Angel  
- Sarah McLachlan

Gwen

"Oh my goodness! She can't drive that...that monstrous thing!" I practically wailed as Rorie screeched away from our house. Bear barked and chased after her for a few blocks before he gave up and turned back towards home.

"What do you mean?" Zachary demanded, sounding as concerned as any considerate boyfriend should be.

"We never got our licenses since there was no point when we could never afford a car." I muttered, almost ashamed of our situation. My dog came and whined by my feet while I stroked him on his head. It was a habit I had developed every time I got nervous about something and it was almost as if he knew it too.

"She's being ridiculous." He said as he got his cell phone from his pocket and angrily dialed a number.

"Who are you calling?" I asked, perplexed.

"Adam." Was his stark reply while he waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello Adam it's me. What the hell do you think you're doing?" He almost yelled on the phone, just as angry as he had been on the night of the party. I supposed that Adam hung up on him though, since he cursed and slammed his trendy flip phone shut without another word.

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Would you like to come in and wait for her? I plan on giving her a piece of my mind as soon as she sets foot in the house. Besides I have to make mom some coffee and I'm sure that she'd love to see you again. You left quite an impression on her the other night." I teased, taking his arm and helping him inside. Zachary smiled, though I knew he was troubled. He could probably use a good coffee too.

When he, Bear and I got inside I set to work while Zachary mumbled things to the dog while he sat next to him on the couch. When coffee was ready, I poured a cup to take into my mother, and told Zachary I'd be out in a minute. I knew she'd be glad to learn of his presence, and perhaps she'd be well enough to come out for a visit.

I knocked on her door lightly but there was no response. She was probably fast asleep, so I figured I'd just leave the drink on her bedside table for her to enjoy when she woke up.

Slipping inside quietly I placed the mug down and took a look at her to make sure that she was alright. Her body was turned away from me but immediately I could tell something was wrong. She had been asleep for quite some time, and Rorie and I didn't even have the time to tell her that we could finally afford to pay for her to be hospitalized. Looking at her now, the way she was all sprawled out in her bed I got a sick feeling in my stomach, and reached out to touch her shoulder gently.

"Mom?" I whispered, shaking her a little.

"Mommy please..." I continued, shaking her even harder. I knew it was fruitless, but somehow I thought that if maybe I called her name loud enough or shook her hard enough she'd be able to hear me from wherever she was. But wherever that was, it wasn't on earth and I could only hope it was some place better.

Tears streamed down my face and I didn't know what else to do other then scream, and I collapsed on the ground. I felt like my insides were being ripped apart, almost like part of me had died too. Bear and Zachary must have heard me, and the door to my mom's room flew open as they rushed inside, Bear barking and Zachary grabbing me by my shoulders and hugging me close to him, giving me a place to hide until he called 911. I guess he had to report a body and went outside to assist the morgue workers as they put my mother on a cart and into a cold dark van. While Zachary dealt with the details I laid on the floor, my arms around Bear who whined softly every time a sob escaped my lips.

I have no idea how long I stayed there but the longer it seemed, the more my emotions seemed to change. At first I was so upset it was like the sun wouldn't rise the next morning, but the more I thought about the day's events the more my sadness turned to bitter anger. Anger at my father for leaving us and my mom to this sad condition, anger at the hospitals for being so expensive, angry at myself for not being able to care for her like I should have, but most predominantly, angry at Rorie for acting so foolish and leaving me here to grieve alone.

The moment I heard her enter, laughing and flirting with Adam without a care in the world about poor Zachary or any knowledge of what happened I was about ready to explode. Now normally I am not an angry person, in fact I consider myself to be generally calm and easy going most of the time, but now, I doubted that my heart would let me be passive about anything.

I stormed out of my mother's room, causing Bear to jump up in fright. I guess after dealing with the morgue people Zachary had left me to myself and waited in the living room for my sister to get home, and from the look on his face he was just as startled with my actions as the dog.

"I'm glad you came back _Tiger._" I taunted throwing a furious glare at Adam as I stomped over towards him and pushed him out the door.

"Wow the kitten seems to have claws." He said, almost sounding impressed.

"Get the hell out you bastard, you've done enough damage!" I yelled, slamming the door in his face. The coward didn't even bother to try and come back inside.

"Gwen! What the heck is wrong with you?" Rorie asked.

"You have the nerve to ask me that? What's wrong with you? You've been a selfish bitch Rorie! A selfish, spiteful bitch! You think you can go gallivanting around town doing things that are completely illegal and leaving me to deal with everything that's difficult" I sobbed.

"What are you even talking about? And why is it any of your business?" She continued defensively.

"Because if you gave a damn about anyone other than yourself right now, you would have been here when our mom died." I finished through my tears and ran to our room with Bear at my heels, locking the door behind me.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen – If you just realize what I just realized

Realize  
- Colbie Caillat

Rorie

"What?" was the only word I could come up with and that was only after Gwen had gone and in our room and I had replayed her words in my head almost a hundred times. I had asked no one at first but I finally turned to Zachary who had been sitting at our mismatched table when I had arrived, he was now only a few feet away from me, "What?"

"I'm sorry Rorie." he said, tears in his voice as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I clung to him tightly, gripping his shoulders for support. My knees were so weak that I could feel them shift beneath me.

"Mom's dead?" I asked him, tears starting to stream down my face as I breathed in deep through my nose.

"Gwen had made her some coffee, but when she brought it into her-" Zachary started to explain but I pushed myself away from him. They were lying, it couldn't be true. I ran across the room toward Mom's door, which had been closed. I paused for a moment before ripping open the door. "Rorie." Zachary tried to stop me as he started towards my mom's room as well but I was inside before he reached my side.

"Mom?" I asked, looking around frantically when she wasn't in her bed, "Mom?" I tried again but knew she wasn't going to answer. "Oh my God." I fell to the ground at the end of her now empty bed and screamed. There was no words. "No."

"Rorie, I tried to call but-" I got to my feet, not intentionally ignoring Zachary's words as I hugged him tightly.

"She's gone. They took her away already? How, when?" We both knew I had no desire to know the answers to my questions so Zachary didn't respond. I led him over to the room Gwen and I shared as I continued to hug him, I couldn't make myself let go.

Zachary knocked on the door for me but Gwen didn't answer, I tried to open the door then but it was locked. "Gwen?" she didn't answer, "Gwenie? I'm so sorry, I should have-" All I wanted was to hug my sister but instead she dismissed my attempt to reach out by throwing something heavy at the door. "I should have been here." I whispered into Zachary's shoulder as he waddled us over to the couch.

There were mixed tear stains on Zachary's shirt, and I couldn't tell which belonged to me and which undoubtedly belonged to Gwen. At least he had been here, at least she hadn't been alone. But mom had. All I could think was that she had probably gone while we had all been out on the steps. Because of my antics she had died alone, even if it had been in her sleep she shouldn't have been alone. "She's gone."

"Ya hun." Zachary stroked my hair as I continued to cry.

Our house was silent except for the sound of tears. It was haunting. Zachary never left my side except for the brief moments when he got me a glass of water and a blanket. I had been shaking uncontrollably since we had sat down. I hadn't thought that I would be able to fall asleep and I really didn't think that I did, it was more of a trance.

I remember Zachary resting my head on a couch cushion probably almost 2 hours after we had sat down—it was probably almost midnight by then. After that I think I had just stared at Mom's still door for a few hours. Not blinking, not noticing time pass but for the occasional noise from throughout the house. Zachary had gone to sit at the table again so most of the noise was his movement in his chair and eventually him falling asleep with his head on the table top.

I couldn't figure out how long ago that was but I eventually had become too restless to lay there anymore. As silently as possible I got up from the couch, wrapped the blanket around Zachary's shoulders, pulled on the closest jacket I could find and tugged on my shoes. It was almost 3:30 in the morning.

Slinking out the door I could see the tire tracks I had left on the lawn earlier that day just barely visible in the dull lamp light as I walked around Zachary's car to the end of our driveway. I didn't know where I was planning on going but as long as I was moving it apparently didn't matter to me. At first I walked, then eventually jogged, and then ran. I didn't know where I was going but I could feel the cold night air seep through the over sized jacket and knew that I was leaving fading foot prints in the bits of slush that still existed at the sides of the road as my shoes had soaked through long ago.

I should have turned back but didn't. I just needed to be away.

Sticking my hands in Zachary's jacket pocket I realized that his phone was there. At least I would be able to find out what time it was at will, or call people—not that I had anyone to phone since his was with me. Looking at the time, I saw that almost an hour had passed. No doubt either Gwen or Zachary would notice I was missing soon. I didn't really know where I was so it wasn't like I could just find my way home. Not that I wanted to.

I couldn't help but think I wanted to be lost.

Eventually I found a school I recognized, Gwen and I had gone there as children. It was pretty far from our home as we lived on the edge of town, I hadn't recognized the area since we had always taken the bus to school, I had never gotten there the way I had went before.

It was strange to be there. I had so many memories of this place, not all of them good. My father had left us when I had gone to this school and I had not been the best student. I had spent a lot of time in the principal's office that was for sure. Most of the time because I had been defending Gwen from some bully but that was besides the point in their minds at that time.

Going over to the lone tire swing that was tucked on one edge of the play ground I sat tentatively on it. It had always been my favourite recess toy. I spun slowly for a while until I felt something vibrate in the jacket pocket and what I knew to be an instrumental version of one of Jacoby's songs began to play. It must have been Zachary's ring tone.

Sniffling I flipped open the phone and answered it—I had yet to stop crying. "Hello, Zachary's phone."

I had barely gotten that out when I heard his relieved voice on the other end, "Rorie! Where are you?"

"I'm at my old elementary school... On the tire swing."

"Stay right there Rorie, okay? Don't move, I'll be right there to get you." he said frantically, he was worried.

"I'm fine Zachary, you don't have to get me." I coughed a little through my tears.

"No, I'm coming, I'll be right there." His end of the phone hung up and my end was left beeping so I closed the phone and shoved it back in the pocket.

Zachary must have gone home after he called in order to find out where Gwen and I had gone to school because he was there in minutes. How he had phoned was another question in my mind, and it was the first thing I asked as he ran up to me. He was wearing his prosthetic leg again. "Don't do that ever again!" he hugged me tight, pulling me out of the tire swing.

"How did you call me... how did you know where to go?"

"Pay phone, and then I found out the school from Gwen and GPSed it. Come on, we gotta get you out of the cold." he instructed, wrapping his arms around me and leading me back to his car, he wasn't wearing a jacket.

"Here." I tried to take off his jacket and offer it to him but he made me keep it on.

"I'll be fine for the short walk back to the car, it's warm in there, I'll be fine."

"You must think I'm stupid for going off like that." I admitted as he helped me into the car.

He didn't answer until he had got in on his side, "You're right, I do. But I don't care about that right now, you're alright and that all that matters. You're in shock, you're liable to do stupid things." Zachary cranked the heat up in his car to the highest it would go and turned on the seat warmers. I hadn't noticed but my teeth were chattering and I was still shaking.

Zachary didn't start driving until I had warmed up for the most part, instead he rubbed my hands together for a while before taking off his fake leg. "You shouldn't have worn that. You know you hate it, and it's cold out. If you're going to wear one you need to get one that doesn't hurt."

"I'll keep that in mind." he said, tossing it in the back seat and rolling up his pant leg.

"I'm sorry." I apologized, "Is Gwen okay?"

Zachary nodded but stopped, "She's with Bear, she'll be fine for a little while but we're going back now so it doesn't matter. I didn't tell her you ran off but she probably has figured it out by now. I'm gonna bring you home." I cringed as I continued to wipe away my tears.

A sad and angry Gwen at once was not one that I wanted to see at the moment but I didn't really have a choice. Zachary had already started us on the way home.

I touched one of his hands lightly as he switched from reverse to drive causing his hand to falter a bit before taking mine and giving it a little squeeze. "I know."

"I missed you." I muttered as he continued to hold my hand as he drove us back to my house. He only let go long enough to rub the back of my neck for a second and then my hand was in his again.

"I know." was all he said again. He knew I hadn't really been mad at him for a long time, that I had been acting stupidly. That I cared. That I didn't like Adam, that I-.

"I miss her." I said in no more than a whisper, causing him to pull over and kiss the top of my head as I turned in my seat so that I was able to wrap my arms around him as I began to cry even harder into his chest.

"I know."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen – I'll stand by you

I'll Stand By You  
- Carrie Underwood

Gwen

It didn't surprise me when Rorie ran away. She never could face her problems head on, instead she always had to flee – I guess because it was easier for her. I was the complete opposite since my problems tended to consume me, like our lack of money. Although Rorie and I both did our parts to contribute to the home, and we were both equally worried about our circumstances she seemed to be able to move on with her life as painful as it was. As for me, I completely shut down, and I suppose that was how I was reacting even now.

I was laying on my bed curled up in a ball and sobbing into my pillow and it really felt like my life couldn't possibly continue for another minute without my mom in the house. My stomach was sick, and cramped from my heaving sobbing, that had gone on since Rorie left about an hour ago. Zachary had stayed, if only to figure out where she gone, and I truly did hope he found our old elementary school alright since I had no desire to leave the house and show him in my present condition.

If you really think about it though I wasn't strictly alone in the house since Bear was still waiting patiently for me at the foot of the bed looking just as depressed as I felt. My tears still flowing down my face, I gestured for him to join me on the bed and then hugged his soft fur until he was soaked. After I think I cried all I possibly could I let go of him and crawled under my bed covers until just my head stuck out. Bear whined and pushed the thick blankets with his nose so he was able to lie down beside me – he was so close a penny couldn't pass between us. I found him absolutely amazing. I was never a dog person that was for sure, probably because I thought that they were stupid hulking things that cause some serious biting damage if they wanted to.

But Bear was different. Despite the fact that he was a giant pain in the 'you know what', he was sharp as a tack. He knew what I was feeling, and how to respond to all of my emotions better then even my sister could most of the time. It was then that I had a realization.

I hadn't been lonely since he had arrived.

Some nights, before he came to live with us, when Rorie was at work and my mom was asleep I would feel a sort of emptiness that came with having no one to talk to, or even anyone to listen to my thoughts. Now, Bear heard everything, and call me crazy, but I was pretty sure he understood them too so I felt it was as good a time as any to vent my feelings to him.

"I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here Bear." I murmured petting his back slowly while I nuzzled my nose against his.

"Now that I don't have mom to look after, when Rorie finds a job and goes to work there will be nothing for me to do anymore. And what happens when she and Zachary stop beating around the bush? They could get married and move in to a lovely home and have 5 kids and a dog named Mr. Snuffles – so there would be no room for me. It'd be like wandering around, lost in the dark. Besides I could never intrude on their lives, although I know that they would be more then generous they wouldn't want the little sister hanging around." I sort of laughed at the thought and tears began to fall again.

"I'd just be in the way. So you have to promise me that you'll stay with me okay? Because if you don't, I might not find my way to the light anymore." I sniffed, continuing to pet him while he growled softly at the back of his throat and licked my cheek.

Eventually I fell asleep, and had dreams of my mom. She looked happy and content, and as beautiful as she once was.

"Don't be sad Gwen." She said with a radiant smile that made the whole room have a warm glow like the reflection of candle light on a mirror.

"But mommy I'm scared." I called out to her in the voice of a much younger self.

"There are lots of things to be afraid of in this world Gwen, but you needn't worry. You have your sister, and Zachary and even Bear. They all love you just as I do, and will keep you safe." She said calmly, and I watched as her glow faded until she disappeared altogether from my imagination.

In the back of my mind I could hear something, and knew that it wasn't from my dream, but instead from the physical world, but I wasn't ready to give up my sleep yet. Instead I rolled over in my bed, surprised when I was restrained by the feeling of warm, strong arms embracing me. Startled, I woke up, convinced I was merely imagining things. There was only me and Bear and the sounds of Rorie knocking on our bedroom door. That was right she was still locked out.

"Gwennie? Are you up yet? I know you're probably still mad at me for last night but we really do need to work out what to do for mom's funeral." She called through the door. With a sigh I figured there was no need to be upset with her any further. She knew that what she had done was foolish, and it wasn't really hear fault that mom had passed on during her antics.

"We have the money from the last check in the mail, we can have her a nice, small funeral. I know this sounds awful, but I never knew how she would prefer to be laid to rest." I muttered giving my sister a tight squeeze.

"Let me call the funeral home, and then Zachary. He can help us make some arrangements." She said pulling out a cell phone that must have belonged to him. She asked him to come and meet us at the funeral parlour, but he insisted on picking us up so we all went together, even Bear in the back seat.

Personally, I wanted my mom to have a beautiful tombstone in her honour, but such luxury was far too expensive, even with the help from the check, adding on the cost of the funeral service and such. Cremation however, seemed to be our only option, though I still insisted on holding a service, but Zachary and my sister disagreed with me.

"If you want a proper burial Gwen, then we will get her a proper burial." Rorie insisted, and then proceeded to speak with the funeral director since I couldn't handle it any longer. After we had made the solemn plans we returned home, a sombre silence over our heads like a shadow. The rest of our day was spent gathering the clothing and effects we wanted mom to have with her while she was buried.

Rorie picked out mom's favourite dress, while I got her the locket she had with both of our pictures in it, side by side and the hot pink stiletto shoes she had bought but never worn since she insisted they weren't practical enough despite the fact she just liked to look at them. That was back when we could afford such frivolous purchases and it reminded us of happier times.

We also debated contacting our father, but there really was no point since not only did we not have his location, but he probably wouldn't have even come anyways. Though there would be no guests at the funeral but us, somehow the thought was comforting none the less, since that was how mom would have liked it. Everyone who was important would be there.

The day before the funeral Zachary knocked on the door with coffees in hand.

"Hey." Rorie said while she opened the door, barely able to get out of the way before the dog ran to Zachary's side. Why he was so attached to him I would never know. Handing us our drinks, my sister and I took them gratefully, happy to have a break with the memories of mom that were weighing us down.

"Here's the mail." Zachary said, handing us a pile of envelopes, most of which were bills. I flipped through them, disgusted. Mom was dead, and yet still life had the audacity to move on without her. One envelope however caught my eye, it was the same as the one we had received our last cheque from, and so I opened it eagerly hoping it wasn't a letter announcing the mistake of welfare services or whoever had given it to us.

To my disbelief however, it was another cheque, for the same amount as the last one.

"This can't be right Rorie!" I exclaimed. "How can it be? We need to call someone and report this. There is no way on earth we can accept this!"

Bear barked angrily, so much so that I thought Adam had returned, but thankfully after a quick check outside Rorie determined that no one was there.

"What's up Bear?" She asked confused, since he generally didn't bark at thin air. He just huffed and nudged the hand holding the check while he growled.

"The dog's got a point." Zachary said, almost as if he knew what Bear was thinking.

"You may as well accept that cheque, especially now. You two need to take some time off and relax, and you'll have that opportunity with this cheque. If a mistake was made you're not liable since it _is_ addressed to you." He reasoned.

"I guess you're right." Rorie agreed giving the dog a slight smack on the forehead while she nearly laughed for the first time since mom had died.

"Nice thinking Bear, but if we get in trouble I'm blaming it on you."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen – I never wanted you

I Never Wanted You  
- Headphones

Rorie

The funeral was beautiful. Zachary had helped us make all the arrangements and thankfully everything seemed like it would work out financially. Zachary had assured me privately that he would make sure it did if we could not—I was thankful for the assurance but even happier that he did not need to take that burden upon himself regardless. The wake was to take place in a small room off to the side of the funeral home. It wasn't as if many people had come to the funeral anyways so we just took what came with the service.

A few people that had worked with me and a number of Gwen's colleagues, including Stacey the goth, had come to pay their respects. One or two women mom had worked with showed up as well, but other than that I didn't really recognize anyone. I suppose they had known mom because they seemed to know who Gwen and I were so all I could do was be glad that they had seen the obituary notice in the paper.

An hour had probably gone by since the service had ended and most people had left already when an unexpected guest arrived and it was clear why Bear had been barking for the last few seconds. "What is he doing here?" I demanded, getting to my feet angrily from my spot on one of the couches along the sides of the room.

"Who?" Zachary asked, helping Gwen hold back Bear. He should have known the answer.

Gwen gave it to him anyways, "Adam."

"Hey Tiger, Kitten... Zach. Sorry to hear about your mom babe." All I could do was roll my eyes at him as I sat back down, ignoring him the best I could. The last thing I needed right now was this sort of negative attention. Besides I had no desire to speak to Adam or even see him for that matter.

"Leave, please." I forced myself to be polite under the eyes of what few guests remained but if he didn't do as I asked quickly he wouldn't be receiving such a courtesy for long.

Adam clearly wasn't going to accept my offer.

He decided to come toward me instead, I couldn't decide if it was lucky for him or not that Zachary blocked his path. "Touchy, geez, I just came to pay my respects."

"She asked you to leave Adam, don't make a scene." Zachary tried to no avail.

Adam just smirked, "Make a scene? Isn't that what your here for? Then again I suppose the two of you made up the other night after I dropped Tiger off huh. After all, your car was still there and the passing of such a loved family member would make for the ample opportunity for someone like you."

"Back off Adam." I asserted, still trying to remain calm, but failing somewhat. Gwen was still trying to hold back Bear who was now growling fiercely at Adam and had attempted to snap at him more then once. Not that I could blame him.

"He knows I'm right." Adam remarked nonchalantly, "It just goes to show you can't trust some people doesn't it."

"Like you, you mean." Zachary laughed, "I think you have proven that well enough." I saw Zachary look at the place where his right leg used to be, not for the first time I might add. Something about Adam seemed to strike a chord with him in that respect. He only ever demonstrated the habit when he was around. And I think I had finally figured out why.

Zachary had told me the circumstances around how he had lost his leg. Someone had apparently backed their car into him in a parking garage. He seemed convinced that they had wanted to do more damage then that but luckily they had only been able to pin one of his legs. The bones had been crushed and all the muscles torn—their only choice had been to amputate. He had always failed to mention who was involved though I knew that he had been after some sort of meeting. Now it seemed clear to me that it was Adam who was responsible for Zachary's infirmity.

I knew I should but I couldn't hold back my curiosity, I had to ask, "It was you wasn't it? That made Zachary lose his leg... why?"

"That's horrible!" Gwen gasped, losing her grip on Bear who lunged at Adam. The dog stopped however when Zachary put his hand in his path. I was surprised it had such an affect but somehow Bear assented and stopped in his tracks.

When Adam conceded to just shrug Zachary answered for him, "He was mad that Oryn gave me signing authority on his account. Oryn would never have trusted you with that, even if you had managed to get me out of the way. Which you barely succeeded in doing—just because you didn't know that I was around doesn't mean that I wasn't there for him. That I'm not still there for him."

I guess Adam thought what Zachary was saying was funny because he started to laugh. "Sure, that's why you gave up looking for him in order to stay here."

"And how long have you been here Adam? At least a couple weeks now, what's preventing you from moving on then?" I suppose Zachary had hit a nerve because Adam didn't respond. "The same sorts of things that have prevented me from leaving then..." Zachary, out of calming habit, scratched the back of Bear's neck.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that. I'm actually here to keep an eye on you now, otherwise I probably would have been long gone." Adam's remark probably should have stung but it didn't in the slightest. "After all you have taken money out of Oryn's account twice now, large sums at a time I might add. I wonder where it could have possibly gone." Adam snickered again and waved his hand around the room before looking at Gwen and I poignantly.

Zachary had been taking Oryn's money... and giving it to us.

Needless to say Gwen and I were shocked and not entirely pleased, "Well I'm glad to see that at least the two of you weren't privy to such information. I would hate for the two of you to be part of such an illegal act."

"It's not illegal Adam, I have signing authority, I can do what I want with the money in his account." Zachary rolled his eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that Zachary. Those two cheques that we thought were from welfare, they really were from you and your missing best friend's savings account?" I questioned loudly.

"Mom's funeral was paid for using the dollars Jacoby squeezed out of thousands of screaming girls I have to put up with at work each day?" Gwen asked, "Wouldn't Stacey be thrilled to hear that." she rolled her eyes, just as disgusted as I was.

"It sure was Kitten." Adam smiled evilly, sliding up to Gwen and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Pulling my sister away from Adam and to my side I didn't know what to think any more. Zachary had been taking money from Oryn and giving it to us under the guise of it being from welfare. There was no way that we could pay it back!

"You won't have to pay it back." Zachary assured us, knowing exactly what had been going through my mind and likely Gwen's as well. "Oryn would want you to have it, I know he would..."

"Just like you are so sure that he is in this town somewhere?" Adam jabbed.

Zachary looked at Bear again, "Ya, I am sure of that." he admitted almost sadly. "I believe it."

"But you can't prove it."

"No I can't!" Zachary raised his voice angrily.

It was evident that neither of them were going to let up and the funeral director was clearly getting upset because he stormed over to the four of us—the one or two people that were left at our wake looking on in horror. "If the two of you plan on continuing like this I am going to have to insist that you leave."

"Of course sir." Zachary said, "I apologize."

The director nodded and left as the pair seemed to settle down but Adam had other plans in mind. "See, what did I tell you, he's always using the sob missing leg thing as a front to get his way. Who could say no to him?" Adam smirked.

I guess Zachary had finally had enough because a moment latter his fist had connected with Adam's nose and the next thing I knew I was yelling, "Get out!"


	17. Chapter 17

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that Carys and I noticed a mistake today. Chapter 8 was posted twice as 8 and 9, so the real chapter 9 is up now. Again thank you so much for the reviews, we love to hear back from you guys! And without further ado, we start on our way to the conclusion. – Dalikins

_________________

Chapter Seventeen – I tried so hard not to feel, It's killing me

All I Know  
- Kelly Clarkson

Gwen

Adam thankfully didn't put up much of a fight, and left the wake gracefully – probably since Rorie threatened to call the police if he didn't. I couldn't help but think however, that it wasn't over yet, not for him. Adam certainly had a vendetta against Zachary, and it was a shock to learn that it was he who had caused Zachary's accident. Ever since he put his arm around me I had a strong urge for a shower.

The most incredible shock of the day though, was the knowledge that the money we had been given was from the world's biggest pop star, albeit a missing one. I felt incredibly guilty about receiving the money from someone I didn't even know, despite the fact I knew that Zachary would never have done anything dishonest with his friend's money. Rorie was pretty upset about it, but I think that it had more to do with Zachary's underhanded efforts to assist us then anything else. As Zachary drove us home after we had buried mom they continued to talk about it.

"Why didn't you tell us?" She demanded.

"I didn't think that it was necessary. Oryn wants to help you, he really does." Zachary pleaded with her.

"And why would he want that? He doesn't even know us! Plus he isn't really the type to care about the less fortunate." She scoffed. Sitting in the backseat of the car, as well as the conversation, I wasn't entirely sure if I should cut in or not. Instead, I stroked Bear gently since he had been whining for the past little while. I wasn't sure if it was over upset at my mother's funeral, or Rorie and Zachary's arguing but I wanted to comfort him at least a bit.

His head was resting on my lap, and causing me some small comfort as well, and as Rorie and Zachary continued arguing, I had him get up and buried my head in his soft fur, tears running down my face again. When we finally reached home I'd had enough.

"Would you two please just stop! Now is not the time! Zachary, please come in for a coffee so you two can work this out." I said, disappointed with their behaviour. Angrily, I got up and out of the car, Bear following in my footsteps.

When I got inside, I put the coffee on and went into my room with Bear, hoping that they would have the maturity to sort things out. Besides I didn't particularly want to cramp their style.

It was late, so I figured that I may as well get ready for bed since I didn't really have the drive to do anything else, except for maybe cry some more, and so leaving my sister and her boyfriend to work things out I went to bed, cuddling with Bear some more.

The next day I woke up bright and early. I hadn't really gotten a good night's sleep since I kept having strange dreams that I wasn't able to understand, or even really remember. Like most mornings, I showered and got ready to go to work for my scheduled shift leaving Bear fast asleep underneath the covers.

Zachary must have stayed over on the couch, because he was there, and already awake when I walked into the living room.

"Hey Gwen. What are you doing awake? You should be resting right now." He said softly.

"I really don't want to rest anymore, it just means I think too much about things. I'm going to work. Feel free to grab something for breakfast if you can find anything around the house. See you." I replied and then left, not even bothering to take Bear with me.

When I arrived at work everyone was surprised to see me there, Randy even tried to send me home, though I wouldn't go. How could I miss a shift anyway since we had no money to live off of as it was?

About an hour into my shift Rorie arrived, with Zachary and Bear in tow, and she did not look amused.

"Gwennie what on earth are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Working." I replied starkly as I stocked the shelves, making a point not to look at her since I knew she was angry just by the sound of her voice.

"You aren't in any condition to be here right now Gwen, see reason." Zachary insisted.

"I'm fine!" I snapped, throwing an Oryn Jacoby CD especially hard in the sale bin. Once I had realized what I'd done, I put my face in my hands and started to cry again. Rorie quickly hugged me and started crying too.

"It's okay sweetie. I know. Let's go home."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen – Why don't you kiss her?

Why Don't You Kiss Her  
- Jesse McCartney

Rorie

I suppose I had to be grateful to Zachary as much as I was upset with him. The ride however was appreciated, Gwen offering him the option of coming in was not. Especially when she made herself scarce the second we got inside, no doubt she was sick of hearing us argue. Not that I could blame her.

Zachary and I sat in silence for quite some time. He had finished his coffee long ago and I had hoped he would leave on his own but apparently not. It seemed he was going to force a conversation whether I liked it or not. "So..."

I didn't know what I was supposed to say, that I was sorry for what I had said? Because I wasn't! Not in the slightest. Yes, I had calmed down and I had made a bigger deal out of seemingly nothing than was warranted, but such was my custom, especially during such a difficult time.

"That was a bit much don't you think? Trying to throw me out of your mother's wake I mean." Zachary apparently had been reading my mind. "I should have told you."

"Yes! You should have, but you didn't! You didn't tell us any of those things. It was bad enough finding out that you were really some hot shot with a pop star for a best friend but this, this was a bit much, don't you think?" I repeated his words with a different emphasis; it stung both of us a bit. I could tell. "Why would you give us money? You don't think we were doing fine on our own?"

"Of course you were, but I got you fired Rorie! I had to do something, and I know Oryn would-"

"Would what Zachary? Take pity on us? Neither of us want your pity, all we ever wanted was for you to be our friend... all we ever needed was your help through the hard times." I stopped myself and redirected my line of thought lest I give something up that I did not want to. "Not money. We'll pay it back, if it takes us years, we'll pay it back. Though such a sum must seem like chump change to him." I laughed a bit to keep the tears in check.

"You don't have to. He wants you to have it." Zachary insisted, putting his hands on my shoulders to keep me from walking away from him. I guess my fidgeting was starting to get on his nerves too.

I couldn't help but sigh at him, "How do you know that? Do you actually know where Jacoby is? Are you helping him stay in hiding, is that why you have stayed here so long, so he can help him?"

"No." Zachary shook his head, "Rorie I would have been back here the moment I had found him if I had left but I didn't have to go."

"So you're saying that Oryn Jacoby is laying low here somewhere." I stated for him but he refused again.

"No!" Zachary rubbed his face a bit then continued, "I don't think he is hiding. If he could have gotten to his hearing I know he would have gone. Oryn isn't that much of an ass-" I couldn't help but scoff but I let Zachary continue anyways as he flashed me a look as if to say come on. "He would have gone Rorie, if he had the ability he would have gone."

"Ok." I agreed though I wasn't quite sure I believed him. I just kept in mind not to voice my doubts during the rest of the conversation.

"Oryn really is a good guy, despite all the stupid, moronic things he has a tendency to do. He would do anything for the people he cares about. And I know he would care about you guys. How could he not?" he asked rhetorically, brushing a few strands of hair out of my face. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that it was me."

Nodding I brought up the other issue, "I get all of that, I guess, but why wouldn't you have told me about Adam?"

Zachary scratched his forehead and half laughed under his breath before answering, "Because that would be giving him a bit too much power over the whole thing. I prefer not to give him the pleasure of knowing how much it ticks me off that it was him that did it."

"Trying to play the bigger man." I smiled, finally sitting down on the couch. Zachary followed suit. "You always would be.

"I shouldn't have stooped so low as to go out with him out of spite. I'm sorry." I apologized, taking Zachary's hand in mine and resting it on my knee.

"It's ok. As long as you're alright, it's fine. Just don't do it again." he warned. We both laughed.

Instinctively I curled up beside him, pulling my legs up onto the couch beneath me and resting my head on his shoulder. "I won't."

We sat contently like that for a little while, speaking only a few words when we did. Preferring the silence and his calming presence to forced conversation I closed my eyes as Zachary wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I heard the door to our room squeak a bit but when Zachary greeted Bear I didn't bother to move or say anything. I guess the dog did something funny because Zachary spoke to it again, "What was that for?"

"What he do?" I asked, still not opening my eyes. It wasn't worth ruining my comfort over.

"I think Bear stuck his tongue out at me... Oryn used-" I groaned a bit so he stopped his remark. "Sorry." he laughed, resting his cheek on the top of my head.

When I finally opened my eyes I saw that Bear was staring at us, "What, what do you want?"

Bear must have repeated the look he gave Zachary because he laughed, "See I told you he stuck his tongue out at me!"

I had to admit the dog's actions did rather reflect that but I wasn't going to grant the animal that much. Instead I rolled my eyes, "He's a dog, he's not sticking his tongue out at us. Bear probably just has something around his mouth that he is trying to get off." I guess my comment offended Bear a little because he did it again. "Fine." I huffed and stuck my tongue out right back at him. "Serves you right." I crossed my arms as the dog shook his head at me.

Returning to the position we had previously been in I tried to get comfy again with relative ease. It just felt natural to be curled up beside Zachary. I could hear Bear moving around near the stereo system but chose to ignore it. It had become evident to us all long ago that there was no stopping him from doing something once he had set his mind on it, and as he had already proved his proficiency with the thing I decided to just leave him be.

Bear turned on the radio but apparently it wasn't on the correct station because he hit the tracking button until it reached the station that played the Top 40 all the time. He must have had things timed out perfectly since the station played the same songs at the same times every day because he left it on the channel for a moment while the DJ spoke before walking away and going back into our room with Gwen.

Neither Zachary or I were paying attention to the radio but also knew better than to turn it off because Bear would just come and turn it right back on. Obnoxious as it was the next song that came on just happened to be one by our infamous friend Oryn and it was a love song none the less. "It appears Bear is a fan of your friend." I joked in Zachary's ear quietly which made him laugh a little as he pulled me closer.

We let it play through a little and the lyrics seemed to be a poignant message that was directed at us. It made us both a little awkward so I thought it best to get up and turn off the radio, he had gotten his message across. "Stupid dog."

Zachary stayed on the couch that night and made us breakfast. He had brought mine in to me as I had fallen asleep on an old rocking chair in mom's room. I hadn't really been able to sleep and it was the only place that I had even felt an inclination to so that was where I stayed.

I guess Gwen had rushed off to work, despite instruction that she was supposed to take a few days off, because when Zachary finally came in to wake me up and bring me my breakfast he told me that she had already left when I had insisted on going to eat at the table with Gwen. I instantly had gotten dressed and had Zachary drive me to the mall so we could pick her up. It was a good thing too because when we arrived at the Music Mart Gwen was breaking down.

We took her home eagerly, Bear leading her by her coat sleeve into the house before Zachary and I could even get out of the car. "Thank you. You're too good to us." I laughed.

"I guess. I'm happy to do it." he smiled, giving me a hug as a tear slid down my cheek and he kissed my forehead.

It was then that I noticed the radio had been playing the whole time. I recognized the song that was playing as the same one from last night as it entered the chorus.

_You should take the chance,  
Kiss her_

I laughed into Zachary's shoulder, "Stupid dog." I repeated again, looking up at him.

"Maybe it's a sign." Zachary joked leaning down a little, I touched his cheek as our lips met for a second.

"Maybe." I smiled as I kissed him again and I couldn't help but muse, "Good dog."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Fifteen – Must be exhausting to lose your own game

Call Me When You're Sober  
- Evanesence

Gwen

I peered out the window when I went inside from work, kneeling on the couch while I watched my sister and Zachary's romantic moment. I didn't really feel like I was spying so much as being an interested observer. But the more they kissed the more I felt like I was intruding, and so I retreated into the sanctity of my room, that I no longer needed to share since Rorie was going to move into mom's old room. Even the thought of it made me sad, but we could definitely use the extra space, especially since Bear had taken to sleeping with me.

"I told you Bear. It was only a matter of time." I sighed patting him on the head. He huffed in agreement, almost as if he was glad about it. He would be. I hugged him for a moment, until I heard Rorie come inside, knocking on the bedroom door.

"Gwen? Zachary says he'll take us out for dinner, did you want to come?" She asked, opening the door slowly.

"No thanks, you two go and have fun. I think I still need to calm down after today." I replied with a smile. Let the two of them have some time alone. They needed an actual date, one that didn't involve me getting in the way, and I realized that I was perfectly fine with that. Sure if the whole Mr. Snuffles plan did go down I'd be a little depressed, but overall it would be what was best for my big sister. It wasn't like she'd ignore me right?

"Alright then, see you in a bit." She said grinning. She was still flushed from kissing and I couldn't help but laugh despite my mood as she skipped out of the house.

"Well then Bear, I guess it's just you and me huh?" I whispered into his fluffy ear. Since everyone was gone I went out into the living room and turned on the stereo. I figured while there was low traffic in the house I may as well go about packing up some of my mom's old things that we didn't need anymore.

I went into her old room and began to pack up her old clothes and jewellery, since none of it would fit Rorie or I, and it would hurt too much to keep it for any of my designing purposes. Bear tried to be helpful in his own way by sifting through the material with his nose in an attempt to sort through everything.

In the end, I was sitting on her bed with everything in neatly piled boxes except for one thing. It was a brooch Rorie and I had bought her when we were children. It was a cheap little trinket really, but even when we still had money, and my father was still around, she wore it on her jacket every day. It depicted two roses, one red one, and one white one, intertwined amongst one another to form a heart. My mother always loved roses, and even when we ordered the tombstone for her, we ensured that there was one on it, right by her name. I didn't have the heart to part with the piece, and so I left it on her dresser.

"Well I guess that's done Bear. Somehow packing all of this stuff up makes her death seem really final, but I bet there is someone out there that needs these clothes more then we do here. I'll have to call the Salvation Army to pick it up tomorrow morning." I said, causing Bear to whine a little bit.

"It's okay. I miss her too." I soothed, petting him a little before going back into the living room to nap on the couch for a little while, but I barely had time to relax before there was a knock on the door. Wondering who it could be, I opened it, only to be disgusted with the knowledge that it was Adam – and he was really drunk.

"Hey kitten." He crooned.

"Don't call me that." I replied, impatient while Bear snarled in his direction.

"Oh come on kitten, don't be like that. All I want to know is where Oryn is. You must know, you have to know! Otherwise why would he have let Zachary give you all of that money?" Adam slurred, his breath stank of booze and so I meant to shut the door in his face, but before I had the chance, the situation got a whole lot more dangerous.

Pulling a gun out of his inside jacket pocket he pointed it at me.

"I wouldn't close the door on me Gwennie-bear." He chuckled while I backed inside. Bear barked and barked, with the vain hope that someone might come to my rescue, but he was unsuccessful.

Adam barged into the house, grabbing Bear by the scruff of his neck and tied his snout up with an electrical cord. Once he was satisfied that Bear couldn't bark or bite anymore he began rummaging through our things.

"Where is he?!" He yelled as he searched around our bills and other paperwork, tossing them on the ground when he didn't find what he was looking for.

"I don't know! I wish I did right now though trust me!" I said back, terrified as he pointed his gun back at me.

"How do you know him? Were you a groupie or something kitten? Did he knock you up and was paying to keep it quiet or something? I never would have pegged you for that type."

I was afraid, and now I was just insulted.

"Not hardly! I don't know him Adam I swear, I'm only connected to him through Zachary. And why on earth does it matter?"

"Because his money belongs to _me_! Not the cripple! Do you think he got famous on his own? He needed me! I made him what he was and this is the thanks I get? He disappears!"

"That's not exactly my fault Adam, and it isn't Rorie or Zachary's either so please see reason. You've obviously been drinking so I think you need to calm down okay?" I pleaded with him in vain.

"Oh no Gwen, we are going to call up your pretty sister on her date." He said, tossing me his cell phone that was already dialing Zachary's number. Putting the gun against my head and wrapping his other arm firmly around me he whispered in my ear.

"You better make it quick. Its long distance you know."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty – There's a curse between us, between me and you

What Have You Done  
- Within Temptation

Rorie

It was about half way through dinner that Zachary's phone rang. He did not seem impressed by what the caller ID said. "What's wrong?" I couldn't help but ask, the look on his face was not a happy one.

"I don't know." Zachary replied before pressing the talk button and answering the call, "What do you want Adam?"

"Adam? Is that Adam? Why is he calling you?" I demanded, upset that Adam would sink to such levels as to continue to harass us, particularly Zachary.

However it did not appear that it was actually Adam on the other end, "Gwen? Gwen what's wrong, how do you have Adam's phone?" There was a pause at which time I figured Gwen was saying something to him, and from what I could barely make out she sounded scared. "Ok, hold on a second, here's Rorie, Gwen." He covered the mouth piece and looked at me seriously for a minute before handing over the phone. I could tell that he was more than a little concerned.

"Gwen?" I questioned frantically, was it really her on the other end? She spoke quickly so I barely had time to process what she had said when another voice came on the line.

"And if you want to see your sister again Tiger you both better show up."

"Adam!" I yelled but the line had already gone dead, "Adam! Shit." I quickly waved our waiter over and requested our bill. Neither of our meals were finished but I didn't care. We needed to leave, now.

The waiter and Zachary both seemed a little confused but I didn't care. Zachary paid promptly when the bill arrived and I immediately headed out to the car. We were going to get to the apartment building before Adam did if it was the last thing I did.

The parking garage of Zachary's building had been closed for the last few days because of construction. It was only going to be reopened the next evening so most of the construction equipment was still around but for the most part it was completely empty. The only thing blocking the entrance was pylons so Zachary just ploughed right through them. We didn't bother to pick them back up since if Adam had not arrive yet he would be going through them as well—not that they mattered to us regardless.

We parked in the space Gwen had instructed me to on the phone, I could hear Adam mumbling what to say into her ear so I hadn't interrupted her so the ordeal would be over more quickly for her. At least that is what I told myself.

I couldn't make myself wait in the car so I immediately got out and began to pace. Zachary tried to stop me but it didn't work. "Come on Rorie, come lean on the hood of the car. You're just making yourself tenser." He was right.

I finally took a seat beside him but continued to fidget. Zachary placed his hand on mine, which was a little comforting, for a moment. But the second I heard the hum of Adam's hummer and the screech of tires I jumped up. I was completely on edge and there was nothing that I could do about it.

Adam pulled to a halt across from us. I tears started to fall down my cheeks as he got out of the Hummer and walked around to pull Gwen out of the passenger seat. Bear jumped out of the car after her. Adam must not have been able to get him to sit anywhere but at her feet. Not that I blamed him, Adam probably wouldn't have gotten me to stay away from her either except that he already had a gun out and pointed at her. I barely even let myself squeak out my sister's name in horror because of it.

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you Tiger." I hadn't even noticed that I had taken a few steps toward them; Zachary gripped my shoulder to keep me from advancing the moment Adam had warned against it.

"Gwen are you alright?" I asked, still terrified, and though she nodded I would remain scared until she said something. Or better yet was at my side. "Adam let her go, she didn't do anything to you!" I almost shouted but tried to sound calm in order not to upset him any further.

"I don't think I will Tiger, but here, have the dog." Adam kicked Bear harshly so that the poor dog landed at my feet. "The stupid thing wouldn't move out of the way so I had to bring the mutt."

I could hear Bear whining a little at my feet so I knelt down and untied his snout. I suppose Adam had made the make shift muzzle in order to prevent Bear from biting him or barking. The electrical cord had served its purpose. Petting Bear lightly I stayed down beside him until he got back onto his feet. "Is he alright?" Gwen questioned, but other than that no one spoke as I only nodded in response.

Adam laughed a little and pressed his gun further into Gwen's side, drawing attention back to himself. "Now that we are all properly focused I would really appreciate it if you answer my questions truthfully for once. And just to show my good will I'll even let you have Kitten back Tiger." Adam gave Gwen a slight shove in our direction and let her rush over to us. I embraced her in the tightest hug possible but over her shoulder could see that Adam still had the gun pointed at her. "For insurance." he mused, none of us bothered to try and convince him to lower it or divert his aim.

"What do you want Adam?" Zachary finally asked when nothing further was said.

He didn't appear as if he was going to answer so when he did it was rather startling. "Tell me where Oryn is! Or Kitten get's it."

"How many times do I have to tell you we don't know Adam." Gwen pleaded to no avail; however Adam wasn't looking at either of us. He was looking at Zachary. "None of us know."

Adam rolled his eyes emphatically, "Ya right, sure he doesn't. We both know you wouldn't be here still if there wasn't something that made you think Oryn was close by. Or at least you wouldn't be so stationary here—you would have gone to look elsewhere and come back. But you haven't. You haven't left since you got to here. Why Zachary?"

"Because I like it here... but you're right. I do think Oryn is close by, I can't explain it. Things just tell me that he is, little things." Zachary shrugged and said nothing else.

I guess Adam found it funny because he burst out laughing. "Come on. Tell me. It shouldn't be you that has access to his accounts Zachary. It should be me. All you have ever done is get in my way, so when I had the chance to try and get rid of you I took it. Unfortunately for me it didn't work quite like I had planned. You got away, and Oryn began to put even less trust in me."

"Two guesses why." I said under my breath. It was a stupid thing to do, and I wasn't sure what had made me do it, but I did, as stupid as it was.

"I didn't ask for your opinion Tiger." Adam huffed, pointing the gun at me for a moment which caused Zachary to step in front of me. "How touching. Move Zach I'm not gonna hurt your precious little girlfriend." he continued, I only think Zachary moved away because there wasn't much else he could do.

"I don't know where he is Adam, I swear I don't."

"That's fine Zach, but as important as that is I've given up on him, now I just want his money. And you're going to give it to me." Adam paused, in his rant and ceased to wave his gun around violently, letting its aim rest on me for a moment before pointing it back at Zachary. "I want you to hand over your signing authority to me, and repay what you have taken."

"We'll give Oryn back the money Adam. I promise you he'll get it back." I tried, going over to him. I was surprised that he let me move from my spot but once I was close enough to him Adam struck out at me. He back handed me harshly, his hand clipping my mouth and causing me to fall to the ground. I could feel my lip bleeding but I didn't wipe it away.

I chose to remain where I now was instead of moving. It not only was safer but pulled Adam's attention in another direction.

"I don't want your money you stupid girl, I want Oryn's, and what little of it," he pointed violently at Zachary "that he took from his dear friend."

"I can't do that Adam, I don't have the power to hand my singing authority over to you. I can repay you what I have taken but I can't do any more than that." Zachary offered, putting his hands up a tad in order to appear less imposing.

Adam seemed to consider it for a moment but apparently Zachary's offer wasn't going to fly. "That isn't good enough." he barked, pointing his gun back at Gwen, who was still tied up.

"Adam, think about this. You know that I can't hand over Oryn's money to you. I know that is why you backed your car into me that day. He knew what you were doing. Oryn blocked you out of his account, and he didn't even tell me the code to allow you access should he give you that power at some point." Zachary told him honestly. There was no hint of irony in his voice, no falsehood. He really couldn't do anything.

"You're lying." Adam yelled angrily. His arm wavering as the gun shook in his hand.

Zachary shook his head, "No, I'm not."

The look that crossed Adam's face terrified me despite the fact that I could only see the side of it. There was rage there, anger. "Adam." I whispered but it didn't break the fixated glare he held Gwen in.

He looked at me, then Zachary, for a brief second, only to look back at Gwen. "Fine."

"No!"

A shot rung throughout the parking garage. And when I opened my eyes Bear was dead at Gwen's feet, and Zachary had knocked Adam over. "Go." Zachary yelled at me.

I got up, grabbed Gwen and ran.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One– If you leave me tonight I'll wake up alone

Stay Close Don't Go  
- Secondhand Serenade

Gwen

"Rorie no!" I screamed trying to pull back towards the direction of Bear and Zachary.

"Don't be an idiot Gwen; we have to call for help now! Don't you realize what just happened down there? He tried to shoot you! If it weren't for Bear you'd be...you'd be dead!" She replied, running out of the parking garage and towards a pay phone booth close to Zachary's apartment. I could tell she was scared, and quite frankly I had never seen my sister that way before. She was never scared.

When we got into the phone booth she frantically dialed 911, explaining the situation. When she got off she phone she seemed lost for a moment..

"I...I don't know what to do Gwen...Should I...Should we go back? Should we help Zach?" She asked me. I didn't know why she was expecting an answer, I was so worried about Bear and Zachary that I couldn't even speak – let alone think.

It wasn't long before I heard the ambulance and police sirens, and so we thought it best to wait until the authorities arrived. Rorie reasoned that Zachary would probably be upset if we returned since we'd be at risk.

My sister and I watched as the police stormed into the parking garage, and came out a few minutes later with Adam in handcuffs while he tried to resist capture. I guess he was too drunk to realize that he was in big trouble. I hoped that tomorrow he'd have a splitting headache in jail.

A few moments later, the EMS workers carried out Zachary on a gurney. Rorie cried out and rushed towards him as he was being put on an ambulance.

"What happened?" She asked, but I didn't pay attention as Zachary started explaining, instead I asked the ambulance driver where Bear was.

"Sorry miss, but there was no dog down there." He replied. Hoping with all my might that that meant Bear was still alive I rushed away from my sister, her boyfriend and the EMS crew yelling out Bear's name. He had to come, he just had to. He never stayed away from me for very long. Rorie couldn't have been right. Bear wasn't dead.

While more commotion continued around the ambulance, I continued to search for Bear in behind the parking garage. Perhaps he had slipped out that way and simply hadn't heard me. That must have been it.

"Bear?" I yelled. "Where are you! Hurry up! We're almost ready to leave! Come on Bear!"

I waited and waited, even long after I heard the sirens of the ambulance and police cars leaving and my sister's frantic calling of my name.

"There you are. What are you doing?" She asked me.

"Waiting for Bear. Apparantly he wasn't in the parking garage so he must have gotten away. What if he's hurt? We need to find him Ror. Help me look ok?" I asked as I started to search around.

"Gwennie...I saw him fall, he wasn't moving. I'm really sorry sweetie but Bear isn't coming back."

I shook my head for my tears to stop falling.

"That's not true Rorie! He has to be alright! Otherwise where did he go?" I demanded, collapsing on the hard, cold ground.

"I don't know, maybe they just didn't see him."

"We have to find him." I continued, running back towards the crime scene.

"You can't go in there. It's blocked off now and under investigation. Besides...I don't want you to see him...if he's there. Now let's go home. We both need some rest." She said sighing.

"I'm not going home without Bear." I pouted.

"Gwen he's dead! I can't put it any plainer then that. He jumped in front of Adam's shot. The stupid mutt saved your life, almost as if he knew he was doing it." She shook her head in disbelief while she wrapped her arms around me.

I chose to ignore what she had said. I couldn't accept it right now, I really couldn't.

"How's Zach?"

"I wasn't there when he was taken to the hospital, I was looking for you. They seemed to still be loading up when I left." She replied, helping me to my feet. "But I'm sure he'll come see us as soon as he gets better. Well, since our ride is part of a crime scene I think we should splurge on a taxi ok?" She asked. I just nodded.

When we got home, all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and fall asleep, but no matter how many times I tried, all I kept hearing was that gunshot. I missed Bear. I was so used to him keeping me company in my room that I found it hard for him not to be around anymore. For some reason though, I found myself unable to cry anymore. I guess I had done enough of that of late.

All I wanted now was for the morning to come.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two – ToCause nothing really ever goes the way it's planned

She's Got A Boyfriend Now  
- Boys Like Girls

Rorie

The morning after the incident I went right to the hospital. I had tried to convince Gwen to get out of bed and come with me but she was far too upset. I could barely get through to her or understand her response so I left her there. I almost felt a little bad but I knew it was what she wanted. Gwen was fragile like that, it wouldn't do any good to force her to go with me, and she was far too upset for that.

I spent most of the walk reflecting. I could hardly believe what had happened since I had met Zachary. Life had been far more eventful that's for sure. It was a long walk but we had already spent enough money on the taxi the night before so I couldn't justify getting another one. I arrived just as visiting hours were about to begin which meant that I didn't have to wait.

The nurse at the desk was really sweet and showed me right to the room Zachary was in, there was someone in the other bed that I didn't recognize. He seemed to be asleep so I only waved to Zachary when I entered and sat down beside him.

"How are you? What did the doctor say?"

Sitting up slightly Zachary tried to shrug, "I'm fine. He said I'll likely be able to leave by tonight. I just broke my arm. They kept me overnight for observation and just in case he woke up." he nodded toward the man in the other bed. I hadn't really looked at the other occupant but I could see that he had dark hair and had tanned skin but I couldn't make out his face as he was turned away from us.

"I hope he's alright."

"He'll be fine. He wasn't hurt too badly." Zachary replied.

"What do you mean? He wasn't here when you got arrived last night?" I questioned, a little confused as to who the man in the other bed was.

Zachary shook his head as he took my hand. "He came in the same time as me. The gunshot wound isn't too bad."

"Wait, you mean he was shot?" I asked frantically, and then I remembered Bear, "The medics said Bear wasn't in the parking garage when they came and got you and Adam. Gwen is heartbroken. She tried to go back in and find him but I wouldn't let her. She kept on calling his name."

"She wouldn't have found him." Zachary mused.

"Bear's gone." I sighed.

"Sort of." he agreed but I couldn't help but be curious.

"What do you mean sort of? Who is that?" I asked, pointing over at Zachary's roommate. I couldn't prevent myself from raising my voice, inadvertently waking up the gunshot victim.

"Shut up _Rorie_ I'm trying to rest." he mumbled.

Rorie, he had called me Rorie. That wasn't Adam in the other bed, so how would he know my name? No one had said it. And the mocking tone told me that he at least had an idea who I was. Had Zachary mentioned me the night before?

I looked at him questioningly, "How does he know my name?"

"Oh come on Rorie, you haven't figured it out. Come on Tiger, think!"

"Who the Hell are you!" I demanded, how did he know the nickname Adam gave me as well? Zachary wouldn't have told him that.

Zachary started to answer but the know-it-all cut him off, only he didn't really speak, he just said "Woof."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three – Can you feel the magic in the air?

Fairytale  
- Taylor Swift

Gwen

Rorie picked me up at work about a week after the incident with Zachary. I could tell that she was beginning to get a little frustrated with me since I hadn't really talked that much after what happened that night, I went to work, made dinner and that was about it. I guess I still prayed that I would hear Bear scratching on the door to be let in, so I didn't want to go out if at all possible.

Maybe she was right, maybe I was holding on to an animal far more then I should, but Bear had been more of a comfort to me then she could have known- probably more of a comfort then he really should have been, but since I was so shy I could never have the courage to open up to anyone else otherwise.

Tonight however, was an exception. Rorie wouldn't tell me all of the details, but she gave me absolutely no choice in the matter. Finished were the days of sitting at home and sulking, since they wouldn't make any difference to the outcome anyhow.

We walked to the bus stop closest to the Music Mart, apparently Zachary had another errand to run and couldn't pick us up. Not that it bothered me very much since I really hadn't wanted to go anyway, and the more I could prolong the visit the better. The last thing I wanted right now was pity, and I knew that was exactly what I would get from Zachary since he was such a good soul and he couldn't very well help it.

When we got off at the stop outside Zachary's apartment I couldn't help but glance towards the parking garage. Rorie noticed and put her arm around me, but despite her actions I could tell something was bothering her too. She hadn't really mentioned any disappointment over the loss of Bear ever since the day after he disappeared. I wondered if by being here made her remember, or at least made her uncomfortable.

"Rorie? Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yes I'm fine. But let's just say this place doesn't bring good memories. I hope Zachary finds a way to switch apartments now that everything's come together." She mused.

"What do you mean 'everything's come together?" I asked.

"You'll see in a minute, let's' ring his floor." She replied, and after a brief conversation over the intercom, we were let in and riding the elevator.

"Now Gwen sweetie you have to try and have an open mind in here okay?" She said as she knocked on the door. Zachary greeted us both with a smile and a hug, and in Rorie's case a kiss too.

"I have someone I have to introduce to you." Zachary said as we made our way through the hallway. There, in front of the fireplace, was someone in a wheelchair. I had no idea who he could possibly be at first, but as I got closer I realized that there was something familiar about the figure. Granted, I had never really met anyone in a wheelchair and I wasn't sure what exactly it could be, but I'd say it was more of a feeling I had. I watched as the wheelchair spun around slowly and I recognized the man right away, just from the countless posters I had sold and music videos I had watched almost every day at the Music Mart.

"You're Oryn Jacoby!" I exclaimed. "You found him Zachary? I can't believe he was here the whole time!"

Zachary just nodded, but he didn't seem very happy. He looked at my sister with a strange expression, it was almost worry, or fear. Why he would feel like that? I had no idea but it made me quite uncomfortable.

"I would stand up and introduce myself properly but unfortunately, that isn't a possibility at the moment." Oryn said smiling. I wasn't sure how to reply. I had heard of being star struck before, and I was sure that now, this was the case for me. I had seen him so many times on television, but in real life he was so different- alright, still just as handsome, but far more approachable.

"Oh, um that's, that's alright..." I mumbled. There I go again, socially awkward Gwen as Rorie often called me.

"You have red hair." He said suddenly, as if it surprised him. Confused, I just looked to the ground and nodded, wondering why on earth he cared what colour my hair was.

"Funny, I don't think I would have guessed that...I mean I've heard a lot about you, from Zachary..."

"Oh, alright..." I said in reply. "I suppose I should thank you for lending my sister and I the money before. It really meant a lot to us, but I promise that we'll return it, and with interest too, it's just right now we can't exactly do that. I'm sorry."

"I wasn't looking for an apology, I was happy to do it. Just don't blame Zachy-boy for taking it. It was my idea. And I don't need you to pay me back. It was a gift."

"No, really I will. I've picked up some extra shifts at work, so a little a month will be alright won't it."

"Gwen, I don't want your money." He cut in starkly with an impetuous half-grin on his face.

"Ror, Zachary, could you two leave for a minute please." He asked. My sister and her boyfriend looked at one another for a moment.

"I don't know Oryn, maybe it's not a good idea... At least not right now..." Zachary said.

"No, let her hear. She needs to. We'll go Oryn okay? I give you 10 minutes. If she's still here after that then we'll come back." Rorie continued, and so they left. I didn't want them to go, I wanted to call out and tell them to stay. Why were they going away? Why did he want them to?

"Umm..." I muttered awkwardly. Oryn wheeled over to me.

"I sort of wish I could stand for this, but the doctor says I won't be doing that for another week or so. I wanted to give you this." He said, pulling something out of his pocket, something that I recognized instantly. It was Bear's collar, the one I had made.

"Where did you find that?" I asked, shocked as I reached out to grab it, but he held it against his chest protectively. I narrowed my eyes.

"You have to promise me one thing before I tell you." He said with a laugh.

"What's so funny?!" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips angrily.

"Come now Gwen, don't be like that. I know you're upset, I understand." He said softly.

"I don't think you do, my mother is dead, and my dog was shot trying to save me from a gun wielding maniac. And now you're here giving me a hard time!" I almost shouted, turning to leave, but I was close enough to him that he was able to grab my arm.

"You must really be upset. I haven't seen you like this since the day you broke down at work. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be like this, but frankly I have no idea how to say what I need to right now." He said, running his hands through his hair. He did seem to be frustrated with himself, and so I figured I may as well just hear him out. But thinking back on what he had just said, I realized he had mentioned my breakdown at the Music Mart, that he had seen it. I would have known he was there; he wasn't an easy person to miss by any means. And so I asked him what he meant. Perhaps it was a mistake.

"Gwen I know it's hard to understand, I don't even get it myself...but I was, I am, Bear." He said with sincerity. My eyes began to tear up.

"What a horrible thing to say! Why are you doing this?"

"You told me that you didn't want to be alone Gwen. I'm just keeping my promise and I have no other way." He whispered. My eyes opened wide.

This was impossible, I never said that to him...I only said that to Bear. He couldn't be implying what I thought he was. "Are you insane? Because I think maybe you should get some help Mr. Jacoby. What your saying doesn't make sense at all." I said, and began to walk away again, but he shouted after me.

"Don't you think I know that? It's not everyday a guy turns into a dog. And even if it was I highly doubt he'd go around telling people about it. I'm not sure if it was a punishment or a blessing though, and so I can't help but want to thank whoever did it to me. If it weren't for being on all fours I never would have met you and your family, and I never would have seen the way that I was being perceived by good people. It sounds ridiculously cliché, but I learned that the world didn't revolve around me, and in the end I only had Zachary who really cared enough to try and find me – not my money. It hurt to realize that." He said with a bit of a sigh.

I admit I did feel sorry for him, since it would have been an awful realization. No matter how hard it got I knew I'd always have my sister and Zachary, and everyone at the Music Mart too. But everyone who should have cared about him really didn't. Unbidden, tears started to fall down my eyes.

"I'm sorry – but you're asking me to accept something that can't possibly be true." I sniffed. If he could have gotten up, I was sure that he would have. Even from his seated position in the wheelchair his stare was so powerful it felt like he were actually towering over me.

"You were being chased by a drunk guy in the alley when we were going to meet Zachary for the first time. Your cooking, though you do try, is absolutely awful and you always gave me the left overs. Your boss 'King Randy' practically asks you to marry him every shift, and he loves you so much he let a dog in the workplace if only to make you happy. The thing you're most afraid of in the world is being left behind by your sister like when you were alone after your mother died. And Adam, he called you Kitten." He whispered, not releasing me from the intensity of his green gaze.

I kept on shaking my head and crying. How did he know these things, no one knew those things. He was crazy, and I was crazy to even have considered that he might have been truthful.

"He was wrong. You aren't a kitten. On the outside maybe you seem a little timid, but you're the strongest person I know. I get that this is hard to believe, I really do. All I'm asking is for you to try."

I took a deep breath and wiped the tears away from my face. All of the facts were right in front of me. Oryn was Bear, the gunshot only furthered the proof, and even if he magically gained the knowledge all of my most intimate secrets I doubted he'd shoot himself to continue the ruse.

Kneeling down so I could face him eye to eye I took a good look at the superstar. His eyes were the same green, and I reached out to touch his hair, only to find that it felt the same too. He didn't move, not even a muscle, he merely let me get used to the idea that the dog that I kept as my constant companion for all of this time was, in reality a man. Blushing, I took time to think about the implications of such a predicament and turned away.

"So what do you say? Am I insane?" He asked, smiling again. Reaching up so as to get around his wheelchair, I hugged him, and felt the same safe, warm feeling I always had with Bear.

"Maybe. But I won't hold it against you."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four – Today was a fairytale

Fairytale  
- Taylor Swift

Rorie

As I watched Gwen speak to Oryn from the balcony I couldn't help but be happy that it hadn't been more of a fight to get her to listen. When she hugged him I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God that wasn't any more difficult. You know Gwen, if she hadn't accepted this now she probably wouldn't have at all." Beaming I hugged Zachary whom had had his arm around me previously. "I'm glad for her... for them. It must have been hard for him, trapped in the body of a dog." I really couldn't help but laugh at the predicament the famous pop star Oryn Jacoby had been in, as unbelievable as it was.

"What are you laughing at?" I heard him demand from inside. Gwen instantly pulled away from him which was unfortunate. They really did look cute together.

"Uh oh, now you've done it. You'll finally get to feel his actual wrath. His bark really is worse than his bite." Zachary joked.

Apparently Oryn didn't find it too funny, "Was that really necessary? You don't think I have been through enough trying to figure out what possibly could have happened? I'm just glad to be back. You have no idea how horrible it was to not be able to say what was on my mind!"

"And I've already heard your opinion on my exploits, thank you; we don't need to hear them again." I hushed him, I knew that was one of the places he was headed next.

"You got your point across well enough." Zachary scoffed. "I figured it out didn't I?"

Oryn looked critically for a moment than sort of half nodded, "Eventually, took you long enough." he joked back. Zachary shrugged so I guess it was true. I guess there had been hints—Bear could use a stereo for goodness sake!

"Whatever!" I rolled my eyes, this line of conversation was getting us nowhere so I decided it would be more beneficial to just change the subject all together. "So what's it like, being a dog?" when everyone gave me funny looks I figured I had better ward them off, "I'm just kidding."

"That reminds me, Zachary and I wanted to give you something. Consider it a present for getting me out of all this." Oryn said, handing an envelop over to Gwen. "Open it together."

"Don't you think you have done enough? I mean, the money..." she faded off though she came to stand beside me.

Oryn and Zachary looked at each other for a second before Zachary laughed, "Really, open it."

Gwen did as she was told but when she saw there was a few pages of folded paper inside she hesitated so I took them out of the envelope instead. No one ever said that I was patient. When I opened then however I hadn't been expecting what they said, "You bought our house... in our names. You bought us our house." I was speechless. Instead of saying anything I stumbled over to Zachary whom was standing behind his best friend. All I could do was give him the biggest hug I could muster.

Tears were streaming down my face as my hands came to rest on his face and I kissed him whole heartedly. He brushed away some of my tears when we parted a bit but I never let him out of the hug. "You didn't need to do that."

"But we wanted to." he said, kissing my forehead lightly.

I was about to protest when Oryn piped in, "Jeez, you're being more stubborn then Gwen!"

"That's not hard." I laughed but then thought about it and realized that she could be extremely stubborn when she wanted to be, "Right, never mind."

"That's what I thought." he muttered, if it would have been me I probably would have punched him or something, but Gwen just blushed as she continued to stare at the deed to our 'new' house. It was kind of sweet actually. "Now what do you say that we get out of here and get me some real food. The first thing I ate after being a dog for months was hospital food, and that isn't what I consider good. Can we _please_ go somewhere else? Like that place you brought them to before—it smelt so good, and I got the door slammed on my nose."

Zachary rolled his eyes and laughed before asking me to push Oryn's wheel chair, "No, I'll do it." Gwen offered instead, passing the deed to me and began to push him toward the door.

"Alright." I smiled.

"Let's go." Zachary followed suit, wrapping the arm he wasn't using for his crutch around my shoulders and trailed behind the new love birds. Gwen must have realized what she was doing because she hesitated for a moment before continuing toward the elevator. It just made me hug Zachary a little tighter.

"You know what?" I asked him as we got into the elevator, standing on my tippy toes I whispered in his ear.

He smiled down at me and gave me a small kiss, "Me too."

"What?" Gwen asked confused, "What?" she repeated when neither of us answered.

Oryn laughed at her expense a little, "Don't worry about it." he smiled at us, hitting Zachary lightly as if to egg him on. "Aren't you kids cute."

"Shut up dog boy. He's just as old as you cradle robber." I joked.

The rest of the ride was extremely civil, just as the drive to the restaurant was. Gwen sat in the back with Oryn where I watched them talk quietly with one another. They weren't really paying attention to Zachary and I so I took the opportunity to watch them in the rear view mirror. "Their cute." I admitted, giggling at them.

"Not as cute as you." Zachary joked, which made me laugh a little more.

"Ok, now you shut up." Oryn grumbled at us from the backseat which caused what little was left of the drive to proceed in silence. We parked in the same spot as we had before, I pulled Oryn's collapsed wheelchair out of the trunk before Gwen and I helped him into it. The hostess brought us to a more private table in the back upon request. She had kept staring at Oryn, probably trying to figure out if he really was the missing star or not. The next day he and Zachary were supposed to try and clear that whole situation up, but for now we all just wanted to enjoy a nice dinner.

Gwen seemed a little awkward at first but became a bit more comfortable as the evening went on. She and Oryn talked about everything, Zachary and I could hardly get a word in edgewise so we went about our own conversations most of the time. The food was fabulous. Oryn and Gwen continued to flirt shamelessly and when the waiter took notice and asked if it was their first date Gwen began to stammer.

"Ya, it is." Oryn asserted, putting his arm around Gwen as if to tell the cute waiter to back off.

The waiter then turned to me, however I just leaned forward and patted him on the shoulder. "Try another table." Zachary laughed as I sat back and kissed him on the cheek.

"You guys make me sick." Oryn pretended to gag.

Zachary glared at him, "Do you not want my help tomorrow?"

"I mean, that's so sweet." Oryn tried to smooth things over but it just ended in laughter.

It was a really great night. After all that had happened it was good to see that Gwen could still be herself. In fact she was a lot less socially awkward than normal, Oryn seemed to bring out a confidence in her—he always had.

When Zachary dropped us off at home it seemed almost different. It was our house now, we didn't have to worry about losing it which was a first for us. It was a guarantee in our lives. The boys came inside with us. Not only had they purchased the house for us they had refurnished it.

We hadn't had new furniture for a long time, let alone any that suited us. It was so nice. I couldn't believe what they had done. It was so wonderful. Things had been reorganized to accommodate our new space redistribution and what we had kept of our mom's things were put throughout the house. Each of us had our own room now so they were redecorated to suit our individual tastes. It was perfect.

They stayed for coffee and we talked late into the night. Things were finally starting to look up for us. Maybe, just maybe, we would be alright after all.

Zachary and Oryn eventually got everything straightened out, it took them a lot of explaining and even a few lies but it worked out as best as it could. Oryn paid his fine and after he was finished healing he was going to do some community service—which we all offered to perform with him when the time came. It was going to be fun.

I found a job two weeks later at a pharmacy which offered to help me take the pharmaceutical courses I needed to become certified. It was a huge step forward for me and everyone was completely supportive. I was just glad that I didn't have to travel far from home to go to my courses.

Zachary taught me how to drive, and continued to work at the local paper writing the entertainment column. He even started doing a bit of editing for the city magazine on the side. Our relationship was progressing really well and I couldn't imagine how my life would be without him. Too much had happened that he had seen me through.

Gwen was still working at the Music Mart for now, at least until she started college in the fall. She was going to be taking design, we all knew she would be a hit. She and Oryn had officially started dating a few days after that night. They were so good together. They complemented each other well. He brought out her confidence and I had to admit he wasn't as much of an ass as I had thought he was.

Yep, things were definitely looking up, and there was no sign of turning back. We had each other. Sure Randy would be sad to see Gwen leave, and Stacy the teenage goth would be stuck alone with him but it really was for the best. Who knows maybe Oryn and Zachary had a friend for him too.

And as cliché as it is, we all lived happily ever after.

The End

* * *

Carys and I want to thank all of you for reading our first completely posted joint effort story. We both hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let us know what you thought, we really appreciate the feedback. Thanks for reading!

- Dalikins


	25. Greetings!

Hello all,

This is Dalikins! I just wanted to let everyone know that Carys and I have begun to post another joint effort story. This one is titled Silence and it is a little different from our last story—and a little closer to the type of story Carys usually posts on her account. We hope that you will all read and enjoy the story as well as review. We love to know how we are doing.

Hope you are all well and hope to you enjoy!

Dalikins


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